Author's note: thank you very much for the reviews, it is a pleasure to read them.

Chapter nine: Let's Remain Zen

"Dr. Is-... Isles...?" Susie stopped abruptly as she spotted her boss on the floor. Maura was sitting Indian style, her eyes closed. "Is... I mean, a-... Are you okay?"

The medical examiner slowly raised a hand then nodded in silence. The sound of a Tibetan bowl was filling her office while a stick of incense spread a fragrance of pachouli all around. She had taken her shoes off and kept on taking deep breaths that made her chest rise up and down. She let a few more seconds pass by and finally opened her eyes.

She smiled at her employee.

"What can I do for you, Susie?"

The senior criminalist was taken aback by the scene. She had witnessed strange things since she had started working for Maura but the Buddha vibe was a first. She timidly waved a couple of papers.

"We... Ahem... We have the DNA results...?"

Maura stood up and grabbed the papers immediately. Her moment of relaxation had been too short but her job was her priority. She didn't have much of a choice. She skimmed through the numbers – rather quickly – and pouted when her eyes landed on the line that interested her the most.

"It doesn't match? Really? How come?"

Susie shook her head. She looked a tad sorry. These were not the results they had hoped for. She pursed her lips then adjusted her glasses on top of her nose.

"Sadly, it doesn't. Nope. We obviously double-checked thanks to the different samples we have but there's no match whatsoever. It's..." She made a vague gesture of the hand before keeping quiet.

It was a failure for the lab team. They both knew it.

"Fine..." It wasn't really but Maura couldn't release her frustration on Susie Chang. She wasn't this kind of boss and refused to give in. "Then I suppose that we will find something else, an element... There must be something missing."

But against all expectations, she didn't hurry out of her office to run new tests by herself. Instead, she sat back down on the floor in the same position and closed her eyes again. Susie frowned but didn't ask for any explanation. After all, her boss was free to do what she wanted.

When she wanted.

The young woman turned around but nonetheless lingered by the door. She seemed to hesitate for a few seconds before finally asking Maura a question.

"Does this really work? The breathing, relaxation exercize? I have always wondered..."

Eyes closed, Maura shrugged and wrinkled her nose. She didn't seem very convinced herself, to be honest.

"I would say that it depends on the situation you are facing. A stress caused by upcoming exams? Yes, it does. Your mother showing up without any warning while you are pretending to be married to your female friend because this is a requirement to welcome a foreign student at your place for a while..." She pouted. "A lot less."

Files clutched to her chest, Susie nodded – turned around – and rushed out of the office; as red as a beetroot.

...

"This is grand. I mean... You know you'd sell the idea to Hollywood? Your life's a comedy, Rizzoli. It's pure comedy." Frost shook his head in disbelief yet kept on laughing. "I can't believe Dr. Isles' mother showed up and bought the marriage thing right away. It's... Hahahahaha... Man, I love it!"

She should have never let him know. Jane turned her head and looked by the car window. Why had she done that? She wasn't a newbie. Of course, her colleague would mock her. After the last events of the weekend, who wouldn't anyway? Even Frankie and Tommy hadn't stopped giggling like school girls during the brunch.

The only positive thing was that Constance didn't seem to have noticed the slightest thing or if she had, then she had remained quiet about it.

Jane made a face. Frost was right, though. Her life was a complete farce.

"Don't force me to hit you."

Her comment didn't get the effect she had hoped for. Frost burst out laughing again to the point tears appeared at the corner of his eyes. He swept them away with the back of his hand and took a rather long breath to calm down a bit.

"You know – since it's now confession time – I gotta say that I was surprised at first when you and Dr. Isles hit it off because you're so... I mean, come on... You know...? She plays at another level. But then I guess it's kind of logical. Opposites attract."

Jane gasped and stared at her colleague, horrified. She had rarely been so offended in her whole life.

"What do you mean exactly by 'she plays at another level'...? That's so..."

Frost tilted his head and smiled at her apologetically. Before Jane's silence, he nonetheless hurried to add a semblance of explanation.

"She's high-maintenance and artsy when you... You're the hot dog kind who likes action movies."

"I can eat escargots too if I want to!" She angrily pointed a menacing finger at him. "I could have Maura any time, do you get that? Jane Rizzoli can get any socialite on stilettos in Boston and that starts with Maura. Any time. I can have her any time." Finally realizing what she was saying, Jane cleared her voice and focused on her lap before lowering her voice. "I mean if I were into women, of course."

"Oh please. We both know – for a fact – that you're not that straight."

She shot him a death glare. It was the first time Frost dared to allude to something Jane had never wanted him to share nor to talk about. He had known about it by accident but had then promised her that he would not say it to anyone.

The young detective raised his both hands.

"You know I won't say it to anyone. It's fine."

Jane nodded but clenched her teeth as she observed the street again. She felt like walking, all of a sudden. Going out in the rain. She felt trapped in the car; lacking air. The music on the radio went on her nerves and a very painful lump had formed in her throat. She couldn't cry now. Anything but that.

Once. It had happened once. She had spent the night with a woman once. It was a detail, a very insignificant one. A mistake, perhaps. The truth was that she hadn't tried to put words on it because she did not know what to do of it.

So she had tried to simply go on and forget about it.

"And why are we stuck in traffic, anyway?" She hit the door in annoyance and pursed her lips.

"Hey! This car's property of the BPD. Don't break it!" Feeling the tension between him and his colleague, Frost kept on talking. "I like a lot Dr. Isles. She brought you a lot of good things. Hard for women to have friends in BPD-Macho Land. I guess... I guess she understands; you unlike us, the guys. I mean, you know... At times we're a bit off."

Jane remained silent for a while. Her colleague's words were floating around in a soothing way. It was strange but comforting. A half-smile on her lips, she turned around again to look at him.

"Why do you call her 'Dr. Isles' and not Maura? You met her five years ago. Don't you think it might be time for you to stop calling her by her family name?"

The young man made a face that highlighted his uncertainty. A biker overtook them. He observed him for a few seconds before focusing back on his own steering-wheel.

"I don't know. I'm used to it, now. It's a form of respect too. Sure we hang out at times outside of work but I mostly see her at the BPD when she's the chief medical examiner. It'd be strange to call her by her firstname."

Jane laughed.

"You're strange, Frostie." Snap on her arm. "Ouch...?"

"Something tells me you're not really in position to make fun of me right now. Remember that Maura invited me over for dinner tomorrow evening? Along with her mother, yours, Korsak and me. It could easily turn into your worst nightmare, Rizzoli. So behave until then. Take this as an advice."

"Blackmail, you mean!"

The car ahead of them finally drove away offering them a chance to move as well. Chinatown and its red – old – signs sped past in front of Jane's eyes. She looked at them absentmindedly. Perhaps she could take Margot and Maura to a Chinese restaurant one of these days. The French girl loved the food, her friend as well. They would have a nice time for sure.

Will you stop already with the family fantasies? It's a joke, Rizzoli. A lie. There's no need for you to lose yourself in pretty scenarios because they'll only happen in your head.

Why was she thinking about them in the first place? It didn't make sense.

A bit troubled, she moved nervously on her seat and grabbed her coffee cup then checked the notes she had taken a couple of hours before when they had interviewed one of the victim's relatives.

Excellent. Focus on your job instead. That's your priority. You landed a case, make sure you'll do it all to solve it. The rest is breeze. Nothing but breeze. Get over it, Rizzoli.