A/N: So...yeah. I'm really sorry this is late. It seems that my professors got together and devised a plan to kill me with assignments last week. Some of you guys have asked about things that have been mentioned before, like why does Jane have her scars. I promise they all will be addressed in time. Also, I am a cardholding member of Rizzles Nation so don't worry. Rizzles is endgame, but I think the journey makes it fun, right? Anyway hope you enjoy.

"…And as you can see, my fellow associates here are more than ready to finally share their opinions on this particular Victorian design, so I'm going to stop talking..." The seated crowd laughed briefly as the man with the microphone adjusted his polka-dot bowtie and continued. "… eventually." They laughed again on cue, enjoying his particular style of presenting which lacked the monotony and aloofness they had come to associate with such seminars. "But before we continue, we will take a quick break. Help yourselves to some refreshments in the ballroom and thank you for your time."

The room full of architects and the like gave the speaker an enthusiastic standing ovation as he waved once and then steered his way off the stage via the wheel chair ramp. Everyone, that is, except for Jane.

Maura Isles' assistant was stuck in her head throughout the talk (which she probably would have enjoyed otherwise) just as she had been the entire night before as she stared a hole through the ceiling, and well into the wee hours of the morning when she finally gave up on the idea of sleep. All the while the object of her frustration tossed and turned right across the hallway.

Thoughts of yesterday made Jane's skin crawl with unease. The argument that she had with Maura about Jessie made her sick to her stomach every time she thought about it. The amount of unresolved tension brought upon by that single conversation would not let her focus on anything else, which is wearisome on its own, but this situation also confused the hell out of her.

Was Maura really that mad at her for just talking to the woman? Granted there definitely was some flirting, which was mostly on Jessica's side, but Jane really had no idea that the red-headed woman was married. If she had known, she would have been more firm about shutting down Jessie's advances, but she would still have had that same conversation. It was never about her trying to get into the woman's pants or anything; they were just talking. So to go from friendly conversation to being attacked about her 'apparent' lack of professionalism was baffling.

The most maddening part though, was the fact that Maura would even think such a thing about her. Actually, it's disappointing and hurtful above anything else because, apart from the fact that Jane doesn't take anything more seriously than she does her job, despite how close she had gotten to her boss, Jane would never even think about wrecking anyone's home. Jane surprised even herself with how quickly her anger and aggression escalated. She'd never lost her cool like that with anyone; not even when she worked at BPD and was often called in to review the physical markers of a suspect. Criminals had a knack for riling people up just for fun with their rude comments and mind games but even when they would taunt her, she never let them get to her. None except for one, but that was something she never wanted to think about again…

Jane pulled herself out of her thoughts in time to stand with the rest of the crowd as the large hall slowly emptied out. When she saw her boss move out of the corner of her eye, she grabbed their things and trailed behind her. Luckily, she was paying enough attention when Maura suddenly stopped and turned to her, dodging a potential body slam into the shorter woman.

Maura raised her hand in a halting motion and looked up to Jane. "You don't need to follow me. I'm only going to the restroom," she said.

"Oh. Right," replied Jane.

"I'll meet you in the ballroom." Maura quickly turned away before Jane could read her let alone answer back, and continued on to the restroom.

For a brief moment the brunette just stood there, unable to compute all her emotions whirring away underneath the surface. Then she ran a hand through her hair, shaking her head at everything. She felt so far out of her element. She had no idea how to deal with all of this; everything Maura did now threatened to set her off. Whether it was wearing that tight skirt with an endless slit up the side or something as stupid as stopping Jane from following her to the restroom – everything got under her skin… and it was still only 11 am.

The icing on top of that crappy cake came into view as Jane made her way into the ballroom and quickly ducked her head out of sight. She had immediately spotted Mrs. Jessica Wright in all of her ginger glory. Even though Jane wasn't so fond of running or hiding from her problems, it was still too soon to deal with all of that. She knew she would have to at some point, but at the moment it felt like a point of no return. On the other hand though, she really wanted to give this woman a piece of her mind for disturbing the peace between her and her boss. But then again, maybe the disturbance was inevitable after hearing about Maura and Ian allegedly getting back together… How is that even possible?

"Jane." The brunette turned around to see the woman in question behind her. Maura pointed between Jane and the table behind her. "You're lingering in front of the punch bowl."

A quick glance around confirmed Maura's claim and sure enough, Jane looked down in her hand to find she had fixed herself a glass of something pink. Jane wondered when she had drifted over to the drinks then mindlessly handed her untouched punch to Maura, turning back around to fix herself another.

"Thank you," Maura whispered, both surprised and unsurprised by the automatic gesture.

Several of her colleagues were mingling with each other. Usually, they didn't really speak much to her. Most were either jealous of her accomplishments or they found her intimidating, if not both. She was just thinking that she would have to engage Jane in some awkward conversation when the main speaker wheeled over to her.

"Good evening, Mrs. Isles." He looked up to her with a bright smile lined with whisky-and-cigar-stained teeth. She smiled back as she shook his hand.

"Hello, Mr. Graves. Your lecture was absolutely enlightening. You come up with something completely fresh every year."

The man smiled and nodded graciously. "Well, thank you Maura. And who is this?" The older man gestured over to Jane who stood with a slightly shaken look on her face. Maura lightly grabbed Jane's arm and pulled her a little closer.

"This is Jane Rizzoli, my assistant."

"It's really nice to meet you, Mr. Graves. I'm actually a really big admirer of your work."

The man seemed a bit surprised at Jane's steady strong grip but only nodded appreciatively at her. "Thank you, Jane."

"Of course. And I know this is like two years late, but congratulations on winning the Driehaus Prize. You really deserved it. Your community work is groundbreaking."

The man looked surprised and raised a brow at Maura. "Where did you find this one? I like her already."

They all laughed, which was pleasantly jarring for the women having had a long silence between them. They accidentally caught each other's eye and the awkwardness was immediately back. Jane was the first to drop her eyes to the ground.

The silver-haired man brought their attention back to him smoothly. "So, Jane, are you an architectural student?"

"I was. I just graduated from BCU last year."

"They have a great program there. I'm sure you must know Professor Brown…?"

"I was actually his TA while I was there. He and Professor Radcliffe both were great mentors."

The man fixed Jane with a tightly pensive gaze, scrutinizing her as best he could with the height difference. "Hmm… Do you want to know what I'm thinking?" he asked eventually.

"What's that?"

He contemplated his answer before a broad grin smoothed out his wrinkled face, almost taking a decade off his features. "There sure is something about you, Jane Rizzoli."

Jane's puzzled face switched from his face to Maura's and then back to the older man. She could tell he meant something good, but he was being a bit cryptic. "Excuse me, Sir?"

"In the time I've been doing what I'm doing, I've seen hundreds of graduates fresh out of college, ready to take on the world. Most of them end up burning out before the fun even starts, or they get themselves in trouble by not playing by the rules of the business. But you're different… careful, patient, but the passion is always there, isn't it? An old man like me can tell these things."

Jane blushed slightly at the man's kind words and stuffed her hands in her pockets trying not to rock on the balls of her feet like a teenager. "Thank you, Sir. That's very kind of you to say."

"I'm just telling the truth. And you look like you don't take shit from anyone either."

Both Jane and Maura, who had been silently listening to the conversation, gasped at the man's bluntness. He smirked at them. No one ever expected this from an eighty year old Art History buff in a wheel chair. He loved to surprise them.

"It's okay, ladies. I'm old. I can say shit without getting in trouble." Jane tried to hide her grin as she nodded silently. "But really, Jane, I'm usually perceptive about people and for you to survive Brown and then associate with Maura Isles, I just know I'm right."

"That means a lot, Sir."

"And Maura, you better hang on to this one for as long as you can. She's going to be your competition soon." Mr. Graves took a hearty gulp of his punch and looked on as the two women seemed to shift uncomfortably.

"I don't doubt that," replied Maura, and it was the truth. But something in her tone sounded a lot like dread.

"Speaking of branching out, mind accompanying me over to the freshman table?" he asked the honey-blonde designer.

"The freshman table?"

"Yes. You divide my age by about three and shave off a few years and you get them. Maybe you can help me decipher some of whatever the hell they're saying. Plus, I think they'll be more excited to see the amazing Maura Isles than old fart Graves."

She chuckled tucking her purse under arm. "I'm sure you're wrong, but of course I'll join you. Excuse me, Jane."

The taller woman gave a tight-lipped smile as the two left. She had forgotten how much of a rock star Maura really was in this world. When Jane was in college she practically worshiped Maura's designs. The evening she had gotten the call from her old college professor saying that the design icon was in need of a new assistant and that he had the connections to get her in, she knew she was in for the ride of her life. I never expected it to be this bumpy.

"Hey, sugar. I finally found you."

Jane's ears perked up at the familiar voice. She closed her eyes and sighed before slowly turning around. "Jessie."

"The one and only." The woman slowly sauntered closer to Jane and reached around her to pick up Jane's cup of punch.

"That's actually mi-" Jane watched the ginger take the edge of the cup between her lips and drink the remainder of her drink.

"Mm... This is quite good." She licked her lips. "So is this how you taste?"

Something about the fact that Jane now knew this woman was married made what could have potentially been a funny statement into an uncomfortable one. She stood stunned for a second before she looked around to make sure no one was listening. Now's as good a time as any, she thought as she got rid of her cup and took Jessie's hand, dragging her off to a secluded area of the room without causing too much of a scene.

"Oh, Jane. Shouldn't you buy me dinner first?" came the breathless quip once they were alone.

"Listen, Jessie, I didn't mean to-"

"It's okay, don't apologize," Jessie pressed closer to Jane and let a hand crawl up her tensed bicep. "I like it a little rough."

This time though, Jane couldn't help but laugh a little. What was this woman doing? Jane lifted the hand on her arm up and held it between them. "There's a tan line on your ring finger. Tell me, did you forget your wedding band at the hotel or did you leave it there on purpose so you could do exactly this?"

Jessie narrowed her eyes at Jane. "You're a smart one. I think I want you even more."

"Jesus, stop it. Look, I don't know what kind of person you think I am, but you're married and I don't-"

"Ugh, leave my boring husband out of this. Honey, this is between you and me."

"I would really appreciate it if you would stop interrupting me, Jessica." Expecting the woman to step down a little at her tone, Jane was annoyed to see the woman smirking at her.

"God. You're so dominant, Jane. I can't wait until you-"

Jane smacked the woman's hand away that had snuck up to lie on her chest. "Imagine if your kids walked in on us right now."

Jessie went still and quiet. Something flickered in her eye a lot like guilt and fear before it disappeared just as quickly and turned into petulance. Jessica crossed her arms and leaned against the wall. "You and I both know there's no chance of that happening so why even go there?"

"Because I know there's a part of you that knows what you're doing is wrong on some level. I mean, this is… beneath you."

Once more, Jane thought she had gotten through to the woman. Jessie seemed to be really contemplating her words and maybe Jane's approach was speaking to a deeper part of her that had a conscience… No such luck.

"Oh, come on, Jane," she all but whined like a toddler losing her toy. "No one has to know. He doesn't have to know."

Jane couldn't believe her ears. She would never even consider cheating on someone she made a commitment to, especially not when there were children involved. Jane found that not only was she getting aggravated with this woman, but she was also insulted that she thought Jane would so willingly give into this kind of debauchery.

"Are you out of your mind? Isn't it enough for you to know about it?"

"Don't be naïve. My marriage has been very unhappy for a while, and I know from yesterday's events that you're in the dog house with your woman."

"… My woman?"

"Really, I'm not blind."

"You mean, Maura?"

Jessie smirked and crossed her arms over her chest. "What do you think I mean?"

Before Jane could completely shut the woman down, her phone rang. Looking down at her phone she saw that it was from Alice. Something's wrong. She looked back up to the woman and set her shoulders to address her.

"I'm going to say this once. I don't want any kind of relationship with you. Sexual or platonic. Stay away from me and stay away from Maura and her kids. I mean it." She stared the woman in the eyes for a few seconds before she walked away pulling her cell phone to her ear. She didn't really know if the woman got it, but it would have to do for now.

"Yes, Sunshine. Do you need me to go Africa for your magic juice or somethi-"

"Jane?"

The brunette felt a rise of panic as she recognized the voice on the other end of the phone not to be Alice's voice. "Jake? What is it? What's wrong?"

"We need your help. We-" The boy stopped talking and Jane could hear a shuffle in the background. Her eyes immediately searched the room for Maura. Had someone gotten into the room? Did they leave the room?

"Jake!" she called into the phone, "What's happening?"

"…"

"Jacob!"

"Geez, Jane. Will you stop yelling?"

"Alice? What's going on? Are you guys okay?"

"Yes," sighed the teenager sounding bored and exasperated, "we're fine. The little dork just stole my phone."

Jane instantly relaxed. She slumped into the nearest wall and rubbed her temples trying to soothe the instant headache she had gotten from the adrenalin. "Why did your brother say you needed help though? Did you steal his PSP or something?"

"No… It's nothing."

"Alice, if your brother's upset about something, would you really rather wait until he goes crying to your mother later than tell me right now?"

There was a brief as silence as the teenager debated the two scenarios. She finally sighed and deciding that she'd rather not have her mother on her back for something so stupid.

"Fine," she growled, "We got hungry and I decided to order room service since Mom said not to leave the room, but he's being an ass and-"

"Alice."

"He's being a butt and saying that the food on the menu's too fancy so he refused to eat anything that isn't a burger. He knows very well Mom won't let him eat that and I'd rather not be chewed out for letting him have one."

"So you need me to…" There was a sudden grunt on the phone followed by a few inaudible yelps and angry words. Finally an out of breathe Jacob answered.

"We need you to take us out for food. If you don't, then I'm going to starve to-"

"You're not going to starve, idiot!"

Jane chuckled and listened as the two wrestled for the phone. Finally, she heard a door slam loudly and then silence. "Hello?"

"It's me..."

"Why did your brother call me and not your mother?"

"Isn't it obvious?" The brunette huffed and waited for the teenager to realize that she was having none of her sarcasm today. "Because this is your job. You're still the assistant aren't you, or did you get fired after yesterday's… thing?"

Ah, so they noticed. Jane was hoping her and Maura's little tiff went unnoticed, but nothing gets by these kids.

"Whatever, I'm on my way. Just don't kill each other before I get there."

She hung up the phone before the girl could reply.

Walking over to her boss, Jane already knew that the woman would want to stay for the Q&A. Jane could see how in her element Maura was as she took in the amount of people surrounding her asking her questions. She walked up to her and lightly touched her back, getting her attention.

"Excuse me, Ms. Isles. May I have a quick word?"

"Oh, Jane. Everyone," Maura easily drew the attention of the ten or so people around them, "this is Jane Rizzoli. She is one of the brightest up and coming architects."

Jane shyly looked at everyone and gave a quick nod of her head. "Hi." She started to walk away thinking Maura would follow her only to be drawn back by the blonde woman's voice.

"Jane, I was just telling them about the time you saved me in that meeting with the men from the Parker Project."

Jane quirked a brow suspiciously. "Were you now?"

"Yes, she was. Not many have ever saved Maura Isles' butt before," said one of the older men in the group. "I know a lot of people who would love to have an assistant who has a brain and does more than get coffee. You're lucky she's yours, Isles."

Maura turned to look at Jane and smiled longingly. "I sure am."

The entire group was silent as both women stared at each other. Mr. Graves squinted his eyes a little before smiling and clearing his throat. "Jane, didn't you say you needed to talk to Maura about something?"

Jane looked over to the man trying desperately to comprehend his words. "Oh, yes. Can I, see you over here for a second."

They both left the group and Maura led them over to the table adorned with fruit.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to leave you alone for that long."

"No, it's fine. The kids just called me."

The little blonde head popped up instantly and she placed her plate of food that she had been preparing down on the table.

"Don't worry, nothing's wrong. They're just hungry and Jake suddenly thinks everything on the room service menu is crap. So, I'm gonna take them to the deli a couple of blocks away from the hotel."

"Oh," The woman looked down and started picking at her nails, "why didn't they call me?"

Jane could immediately tell what Maura was thinking and she stooped a little to look the shorter woman in her eyes. "Hey, look at me."

Maura stalled for a moment before she brought her sad gaze up to her assistant.

"It's nothing personal. They probably didn't want to bother you… Plus it's kind of my job, right?" Jane said as an afterthought that was meant to stay in her subconscious. Jane smiled at the woman, but Maura could still feel the sting of the last words.

"Jane, can we talk?" Oh no. She wants to talk. Right now?!

"But the kids-"

"Are we okay? I mean, I know we're not, not really anyway, but…"

"Maura… I mean Ms. Isles, I don't think right now is-"

"I'm trying, Jane."

Here we go again. Being interrupted while she's trying to speak. Why do people think that's okay? She scoffed and took a step back away from the table. Why did she need to try? This was a boss/employee relationship. Strictly business.

"Trying? This is trying? You can't just throw compliments at me in front of your groupies and expect everything to be okay from now on. Just like that."

"But we need to fix our work relationship at least."

"There's nothing to fix," Jane spat bitterly. "You say jump and I ask how high, right?" Jane turned around and started to walk toward the door, leaving Maura behind.

"Wait, Jane. That's not what I…"

But her words fell on deaf ears, because once again, Jane walked away from her.

Maura had allowed herself to think about why she had gotten so angry at her assistant yesterday and had nearly fainted when the realization hit her. It terrified her to even think about it and she hadn't gotten much sleep after that. She really needed to talk to Jane, but what was she to do when the other woman kept running away from her?

Everyone began to assemble back into the auditorium. Maura shook her head and silently cursed. Tightening her grip on her purse, she straightened her spine and left to take her seat for the Q&A.

"No, you're doing it wrong!"

"Am not. You just let me show you how it's done." Alice rolled her eyes as her brother scooted even closer to Jane, practically in her lap as they both looked at the video game in her hands.

"See… here we go… BOOM!" Jane dropped the game on the table and raised her hands above her head in victory.

"Whoa, you beat my high score! I've never cleared that level."

"That's because I'm the champ, kid. Now give me a high-five." She stretched her hands higher and higher over her head as Jacob failed to reach them. "You can't get it-"

"Jane!'

"Nope, you can't- Ooh wait, food's here. Time to grub, buddy."

The waitress lightly laughed as she walked up to the table. She started to place their orders on the table when Jacob decided to shoot a spit ball at Alice.

"Gross, you freak!" Alice picked off the paper and tried to scrub her brother's spit away.

"Ali, your brother is not a freak."

"You're on his side? He's the one who spit at me!"

"Jacob, that's gross. Apologize to your sister."

The boy looked up hopefully at Jane only to be rejected by her no nonsense face. "Sorry."

When Jane looked away he quickly stuck his tongue out at her and it was immediately returned.

"Hey! Could you guys cut it out for, like, two seconds please? Or I'm walking out of here right now and we'll see who settles the bill."

Both Isles kids sat back in their seats. They all looked up at the waitress to see her absolutely cracking up at them. "Your kids are so cute."

And just like that, everything got real. Alice cut her eyes at Jane and Jacob looked up at the woman confused.

"She's not our Mom," said Jacob.

The woman's grin turned embarrassed and she placed her hand over her heart. "Oh… I'm sorry, I wasn't..."

"Yeah, you should be," added Alice who received a death stare from Jane and the girl turned her attention to yet another salad.

Jane looked apologetically up to the waitress. "I'm sorry about her. She's just…"

The woman nodded understandingly. "Gotcha. I've got one of my own. You guys enjoy your meal."

Jane smiled politely as the woman walked away and when she was out of earshot she turned to Alice. "Why do you have to be so rude all of the time?"

"Why do you have to ask me that all of the time?"

"Because you do it, literally all the time."

"I think you're exaggerating."

"Not even close."

"If I'm so rude, why are you still here?"

"Because, it's not about you, Alice?"

"Oh that's right. It's about my mom."

"Just-" Jane was interrupted by her ringing cell phone. Why the hell am I so popular today? Looking at the phone she saw that it was her mother.

"I'm gonna take this because if I don't, my mother will send a search party to look for my body. But this isn't over."

The brunette got out of seat and made her way to the back of the deli. Alice watched as her brother, with a sneaky look on his face, reached over into Jane's plate and stole some of her fries.

"What do you think you're doing?"

"Shh! You tattle tale. Or I'm gonna tell Mom just how old your boyfriend is."

The teenager's eyes grew wide and she snapped her mouth closed as her brother forced five fries into his mouth. She of all people knew how sneaky he could be. She started to laugh when the boy began to choke a little on his mouth full.

"See, that's what you get."

"Shut up!"

"And now I'm going to tell Jane that you said shut up."

"No! Don't do… Ali, I feel… I feel funny." The boy started to cough and his ears turned red. "My face feels really hot."

"That's called guilt, little brother."

Jacob's face turned a deep shade of red as he clawed at his neck and began wheezing loudly. He rose to his knees in the booth and started to cough and rub his eye's fiercely still trying to swallow the fries.

"Whoa. Are you okay?" Alice immediately got up and went to his side.

The boy shook his head and began rubbing his neck.

"Dude, they're fries, not fish bones. Just swallow it," she said, patting his back.

"I… can't. I…" The boy began to grunt and the wheezing got louder as he slumped forward against the table.

"Oh, my god, Jacob!"

A/N:...Won't keep you hanging too long:)