Disclaimer: I own nothing. All characters and stories belong to TNT, Tess Gerritsen, and Janet Tamaro.

A/N: Post The Beast in Me. Sorry it took so long to update. Now that school is in session, I have no study hall and a ton of homework. Please review. Thanks. Love, Lawabidingchild.

Sisters

It's been one day since the events from the previous case had happened. On Jane's suggestion, Maura took the day off. Jane would stop by later. Not that Maura cared if she did or not. Any visit from Jane was welcome.

Maura's last case really took a tole on her. She didn't have the same feelings about her family that she used to. She now knew the truth. It's something she didn't think anyone would understand. She was wrong about Jane, who tried so hard to understand her.

Maura slid into a chair. She glimpsed at the clock. It read nine-thirty. Jane must be done with work right about now, thought the disgruntled ME. She couldn't stay up all night.

She went to her kitchen for a glass of wine. Normally she would sip it, savoring it's every last drop of it and every single aspect of the flavor. This time, she downed it like a shot of whiskey. She couldn't really get a handle on the past events, no matter how hard she was trying at the moment.

A knock on the door startled her as she was pouring herself another glass. With wine splashed on the counter, she answered the door. It was Jane, standing there. "I didn't expect to see you with wine on your shirt," taunted Jane.

Maura looked down. A shocked look spread across her face and left as quickly as it came. She just answered the door with a dirty shirt. She quickly went to her bedroom to change. When she came back, Jane was sitting on her couch. She was staring at Maura. "Normally you notice these things, Maura."

Maura didn't answer her. She just walked back over to the kitchen to finish pouring her wine. "Wine?" offered Maura. Jane let her hand fly up in protest. With that answer, Maura downed another glass of wine.

"Maura, sweetie," whispered Jane, "is everything okay?"

"Yeah," said Maura in obvious denial. "Why wouldn't it be?"

"Two things are wrong with this scenario," observed Jane. "One, you didn't notice that there was wine on your clothes when you answered the door, and two, you are downing wine like it's whiskey. Jeez, Maura, are you sure that you're fine?"

"Yes," confirmed Maura. "Don't worry about me."

"I'm starting to right now." Jane stood up to approach her. "Remember the last Hoyt encounter we had?" Maura nodded her head. "I think that you need to tell me what's wrong."

"There is nothing wrong," said Maura adamantly, placing her wine back on the counter. "Why can't you just leave me alone?"

"Because I can't," insisted Jane. "I need you to tell me what's wrong."

"Jane, stop prying."

"It's not prying if you actually care about the person and said person is going through a crisis," argued Jane.

"Stay out of it Jane," warned Maura.

"No."

"It's none of your business," said Maura.

"Yes it is."

"No it's not."

"Yes it is."

"Stay out of it."

"DAMN IT MAURA! I'M NOT GOING TO STAY OUT OF IT!" she screamed. She clapped her hands over her mouth. She was just as startled by it as Maura was. She was also pretty sure she started an earthquake with its volume.

Maura sat down. Tears were swimming in her eyes. She didn't think that Jane would be this stubborn, despite her usual stubborn attitude. She fought to bite back tears. "Shit, Maura! I'm sorry sweetie. I didn't mean-."

"I know, Jane." Maura turned her head toward the wall opposite Jane. Jane took that to mean that she was crying. She watched as Maura stood up and walked over to the wall.

"Hey," began Jane, "what's wrong?" It was then that Jane saw what Maura was looking at. She was staring at the photo of herself as a baby with Doyle. Jane understood immediately what Maura was thinking about. Her parents. "Are you thinking about them?"

"About who?" asked Maura.

"You know who I'm talking about."

"I don't know what's going on in your head," sighed Maura, unsuccessfully fighting back sobs. "I can't assume-."

"Yes you can," sighed Jane. "You can assume, sweetie. Because there are only two people who you could be thinking of right now."

"My parents," sobbed Maura. "You asked if I was thinking about my parents."

"Yeah," said Jane, "I did."

"Well..." began Maura, but she trailed off. She stared at the now tearstained photograph lodged in the middle of her fingers. "Doyle killed for me. He killed that bastard for me."

Whoa, there, thought a stunned Jane Rizzoli, Maura Isles just swore. "You know how I felt when you disappeared?" Jane asked Maura. Maura bit her lip and didn't say a word back to her. "I was about ready to rip the entire city of Boston apart looking for you. The city's lucky Korsak and Frost stopped me."

"Why?" asked Maura.

"You know why."

"No I don't," admitted Maura.

"Because you're my sister. Family has to stick together." Maura slammed herself against Jane. Jane just slipped her arms around Maura without a second thought.

"Not by blood, though," said Maura in a matter-of-fact tone.

"Definitely not by blood," admitted Jane. She could feel Maura's tears fall freely on her shirt. Jane didn't care. Someone had hurt her sister, and she wanted to make sure that whoever did it next payed a hefty price.