Disclaimer: I own nothing. All characters and stories belong to TNT, Tess Gerritsen (fan of her work- it's an author thing), and Janet Tamaro.

A/N: Post Sympathy for the Devil

Unchanced and Unconquered

Jane slid down the door while Grant pulled away in his car. She never expected Grant to leave without a little more undying teasing. But he didn't come to do that. She heard him say that he liked her for a really long time. She never expected that. That he would return her feelings. She may have been cold to him in the past, but he was secretly an object of her affection. She let him leave before something else could happen. She never wanted to have anything happen just to break her own heart.

Grant pulled away, looking at the door where Jane just stepped through. He didn't get the chance to really tell her. It was an unchanced move.

Jane sat in her apartment when her buzzer rang. She stood up and rang in whoever was at her door. After this case, what could be worse? She unlocked her door. In stepped Maura Isles. Maura-the-Bore-A as they called her in school. Or, as she should now be called, Maura-With-The-Boa. She came in with a huge snake dangling around her neck. Jane jumped back three feet at the sight of it. "What the hell is that?" she asked.

"I got a new reptile friend that you might want to meet," announced Maura. Jane went crazy with fear at the sight of that thing. She didn't know what to do. Kill the snake or Maura with her weapon. That was her choice. Maura heard the scream. "Jane, it's a boa constrictor. Their harmless, unless you're a squirrel."

Jane moved further away from that thing. She hates snakes, no matter what kind they are. Maura just moved closer. "Either that thing goes or you do," she snarled.

"Jane-." Maura began to protest.

"I said it earlier," she began again, "either that thing goes or you do. Take your pick." Maura left. She came back snake free.

"Better?" she asked.

"Yes," replied Jane.

Jane had come into work the next morning to see suspicious looking people lurking around the place. No…wait…they weren't suspicious people. They were detectives looking at each other like there was some sort of big secret that they needed to keep from Jane. The kept pointing and snickering in the direction of her desk. She ignored it. She could do her paperwork while ignoring the idiots that were immersed in their laughter and jokes that she in no way wanted to be a part of.

She heard the soft clack of heels a couple of hours later. Maura came in with her notes for Jane's reports. Maura noticed that people were giving snide looks and creepy giggles. "What's going on here?" asked Maura. "Are they repeating the April Fools Day scandal from last year?"

"Beats the hell out of me." Jane glanced around the room. Everyone seemed to be in on the joke. She hated being left out.

Frost walked over to her desk. He seemed genuinely concerned about what's going on. "Whatever you do, Rizzoli," he began, "don't open your top left drawer."

"There's no hand in there," joked Jane, "I'm sure nothing bad is in…OH MY GOD!" The entire room (including Frost and Korsak, excluding the clueless Maura) erupted in laughter. Jane blushed and ran out of the room in deep humiliation. Maura followed her out. She didn't know what happened, but it must have scared and embarrassed Jane enough to send her screaming out of the room. As Maura takes off, people began to circle the desk in curiosity (those who didn't see what they put in there, but knew what was in there). Inside there was an albino corn snake in a state of uninterrupted slumber. Some fears go unconquered, especially ones that can be avoided very easily.