A/N-I think that I got most of my review responses done, so yayy for that :) Last chapter was almost all Jane's POV...This time it's Maura's turn...
The few days that passed between the first and second time Maura met Kitty were, for lack of a better word, puzzling. Despite assuring herself repeatedly that she wanted to go to the dinner Kitty had called to set up, Maura felt an overwhelming desire to call and cancel indefinitely at least once a day. And that desire usually cropped up when Jane was around.
Speaking of Jane, that woman was being even more puzzling than usual. They did the same things together: quick lunches in the morgue, conversation over coffee in the morning and de-stressing over beer and wine at night. It was all perfectly routine...
Except, of course, for a shift in Jane's demeanor, sometimes subtle enough to overlook, and other times glaringly obvious. It started when Jane found out about the date.
"Who you talking to in here?" Jane asked as she strolled into Maura's office and took her usual seat.
Maura placed the phone she'd just hung up on her desk and turned her attention to an email she'd just received from one of the techs without bothering to take a seat.
"Kitty," Maura said, frowning as she realized that the promising potential DNA match tested negative.
"Kitty," Jane repeated, as if she already knew the answer before she asked the question. Jane leaned forward and rested her elbows on her knees.
"What did our friend have to say?" Jane asked with a forced nonchalance that Maura easily picked up on.
"She wants to have dinner," Maura said, crossing the room to get the folder she'd left on the top of a file cabinet when her phone rang a few minutes earlier. She also moved so that she wouldn't have to face Jane as she spoke. She kept her back turned as she looked at the chart out of a strange sense of guilt for what she was about to say. "And I agreed."
"You agreed?" Jane echoed. Maura had her back to Jane, but the response sounded strained, as if Jane was doing her best not to say something more.
"I didn't have any legitimate reason not to," Maura said as she turned back around and sat at her desk, looking directly at Jane for the first time in the conversation. Jane was leaning further back in her chair than before, but the posture wasn't relaxed. She bounced her foot up and down and clasped her hands tightly together, a posture of restraint and anxiety if Maura had ever seen one.
Jane's raised eyebrows bordered on accusatory. That look coupled with her own misplaced guilt made Maura feel compelled to defend herself in what she knew was a very ineffectual way.
"Jane, I," Maura paused and took a deep breath. Just need you to give me a reason to lose her number. Maura took another, shakier breath before she spoke as much to herself as to Jane when she added "I can't...and I really want to give her half a chance. Besides, I mean, I can't...
"You can't lie to her, I know," Jane added helpfully, noticing that Maura was struggling to find her way out of the mess of words that she'd talked herself into. Jane smiled to herself and rose from her chair. "Anyway, I've got to head back up, just stopping to say hi anyway. See you for lunch?"
"Yes," Maura said, offering Jane a quick smile on her way out the door. With the moment ending so abruptly, she didn't feel it necessary to correct Jane's assumption. Even if she'd intended to ask Jane to give her an excuse to cancel and postpone any and all future dates with Kitty.
Jane reopened the conversation about Maura's date with Kitty no more than a few hours later over lunch. This time, she brought conversation around to the date with what Maura recognized as an attempt at subtlety, by asking about Maura's plans for the weekend. Maura felt compelled to tell Jane that the date with Kitty was set for Friday evening, and Jane nodded with unusual reserve as Maura gave her the details of the date and location of the dinner.
"Sounds super," Jane said as she tossed a paper napkin into the garbage from a few feet away. She missed by a few inches and Maura picked it up and put it in the garbage out of habit, all without paying much attention to what she was doing because her mind was elsewhere.
Maura's failure to read social cues had led her to read up on and observe the nuances of body language and micro-expressions. She could perform such readings on most people, but had even greater success with people that she knew, like Jane. And they had a shared sexual and platonic history that offered additional insight into Jane's keen interest in Kitty and anxious posture at hearing about the date. All that data combined led to a conclusion that was startling at first, then stunningly obvious after a few seconds of contemplation.
"Jane, are you jealous?" Maura asked before she could stop herself.
Jane started at the question, but recovered a second later.
"That you get to go on a date with Kitty Vansen?" Jane replied as she pulled a small ziplock baggie out of her brown paper lunch bag. "Not a snowball's chance in hell, that's for damn sure. I am, however, very jealous that you have fudge clusters for dessert."
As was their tradition, Jane took a fudge cluster from the neatly arranged pile on Maura's desk and replaced it with a chocolate covered pretzel from her baggie. Jane smiled broadly as she visibly enjoyed the treat.
Maura watched the whole proceeding with a distraction that was starting to give way to annoyance at Jane's stubbornness. Jane was clearly jealous; Jane's physiology didn't lie, and their complicated history and mutual attraction made jealousy a viable, understandable emotion in Jane's situation. The situation bothered Jane, but Jane wouldn't admit it because she was too stubborn for her own good.
Well, Maura wasn't going to make Jane say anything. If she was going to insist that fudge clusters were her biggest source of jealousy, then Maura would carry on as if she actually believed it. If Jane couldn't be bothered to admit her own jealousy, then Maura wasn't going to bother asking Jane to give her an excuse to cancel her date with Kitty.
Maura would go out on Friday night and do her very best to enjoy the company of Kitty Vansen.
In contrast with the rest of the week, Maura's date with Kitty was unsurprising for several different reasons. Kitty was a fairly good conversationalist, that much was clear from their conversation in the park. She also demonstrated a reasonable level of intelligence in that conversation. Based upon an objective, fact based standard, the date itself was going reasonably well.
But there was something missing, some untenable element, what Jane would call a vibe. It wasn't there, not even a little. Not even when Maura did her best to manufacture what she knew could not be artificially generated with much success, not in the way it had been with Jane right away.
"So what do you want to eat for desert?" Kitty asked as she looked over the menu at Maura.
See, that right there, that was a perfect example of the pattern that Maura had observed over the course of the date. A question like that, Maura thought, ought to feel less, well, mundane, and a little...sexier. At least that's how things had developed naturally with Jane.
Everything on this date just seemed so, well, perfunctory, like they were each saying things because they ought to be said. The conversation wasn't particularly stilted. It flowed well enough, mostly because Kitty was very loquacious, but Maura found herself bored by the discussion regardless of the topic of conversation.
"But I was thinking I ought to try something with a little less chocolate, so perhaps the lemon meringue pie, or the vanilla caramel sundae sampler," Kitty said.
Maura looked up from her menu and smiled politely. She'd found that it was enough to keep Kitty satisfied and talking, even if Maura had only heard half of the monologue.
"I think I'll get the lemon pie. You?" Kitty said. Only then Maura realized that their waiter returned to take their desert order, having been flagged down by Kitty.
Maura looked down at the menu. She honestly wasn't all that hungry and just wanted the date to be done. She wanted to go home and take off her heels, watch some TV. In short, Maura wanted to relax, and she felt as though she hadn't been able to in the entire date.
"I'll just have a coffee regular," Maura said as she smiled and handed the waiter her desert menu. "Thank you."
"So," Kitty said, leaning across the table as if she was going to tell Maura a secret or say something flirty. "I've been dying to ask you something all night."
Maura leaned forward a bit, hoping that this might be the start of a vibe that she desperately wanted to find with Kitty, some kind of spark that would make the date at least marginally interesting.
"What might that be?" Maura asked.
"Any scoop on the Rizzoli case?" Kitty asked.
That was another thing that felt off about the date; what had initially seemed like a natural curiosity regarding Maura's work had turned into the main topic of conversation. Maura had noticed that a significant portion of the conversation had some kind of direct or indirect connection to a death that Maura had investigated and/or one that Kitty had reported on.
Maura loved her job, but it wore on her to talk about it so much outside of work. She didn't mind talking about a case once or twice, in general terms of course, but this was the fourth case that Kitty had referenced directly, and it was draining to talk about violent crime with such frequency when she spent at least 40-50 hours a week around it.
Maura suspected her inability to relax at all during the date came from the frequent discussion of such things in such an inappropriate setting. Maura just needed a break from it for a few hours. Jane got that, understood the need to get some emotional distance from the crime scene when she was out of work. Clearly Kitty didn't.
"Which one? You must know that she's investigated a number of cases," Maura replied in a cool, disinterested tone that she hoped would put Kitty off.
"I don't mean the case Rizzoli investigated. The Rizzoli case," Kitty said. When Maura didn't respond, partly because she was still wrapping her head around the fact that they were still talking about violent crime, Kitty continued. "You know. With Charles Hoyt."
"I was not in Boston at the time," Maura said. She could feel her cheeks grown hot with barely suppressed anger at the woman's bold, brash inquiries.
"But you're friendly with Detective Rizzoli, right? I mean, that's the word with her fellow officers, that you're closer to her than anyone else," Kitty said.
Maura wasn't a guessing woman, but she felt secure in assuming Crowe was the woman's source. She cringed to think of the kind of things he'd said about Jane.
"I'm trying to put together a segment on the Rizzoli case," Kitty pressed on. The woman really was single minded, because if she wasn't she would have noticed Maura glaring at her. "It really is a riveting narrative. Only female BPD homicide detective's dogged pursuit of a ruthless, brilliant serial killer. I'm just missing some key details about the events leading up to Rizzoli's injuries, especially what happened in the basement because I haven't...
That was it. Maura decided to stop making an effort with this woman, to give up the polished politeness, because clearly the woman had little tact and concern for others if she so openly and bluntly and obsessively sensationalized these horrible stories. The question itself had been inappropriate, but it was the woman's tone that frustrated Maura more than anything. She spoke as if she was hoping to get some juicy office gossip or a movie spoiler.
These people, these victims, Maura knew from her experience with Jane, suffered real trauma at the hands of some awful people, and Kitty spoke about Jane's experience like it was a work of fiction without real life consequences. Maura cared deeply about Jane, and, to use a word that she rarely used, truly hated that anyone would treat Jane's pain as something to gossip about. Because that's all Kitty wanted: gossip on all the details, the gorier the better.
"Any personal knowledge that I might have of the Rizzoli case is absolutely none of your business," Maura said, then added without a hint of the warmth she usually tried to project, "And it would serve you well to find another interest. Such casual, insistent discussion of vicious, violent crime yields very few successful dates."
Kitty appeared sincerely shocked, as if no one had ever said anything of the sort to her. As if she really did expect Maura to hand over all of her case files just because Kitty attempted to use her bedroom voice. She didn't realize that Maura resisted Jane and her voice on a regular basis, which was sexier than anything Kitty would ever achieve.
"I, I'm sorry if I offended you Maura, but this is my job, much in the same way autopsy is your job," Kitty replied, not sounding nearly as contrite as Maura thought she ought.
"But this is not a place of work for either of us, is it?" Maura replied. "It would be wildly inappropriate, not to mention unsanitary, for me to perform an autopsy over dinner."
"Well, everywhere is a place of work for me. If I can get a lead in a park walking my dog, then that's my place of work. If I can get a scoop here in this restaurant, then I am going to do it," Kitty said. "I thought, as a career woman, you would get that."
There was another unsurprising development of the night; Jane had warned Maura about Kitty's single mindedness. As unsurprising as Kitty's behavior was, it still hurt that the woman admitted so openly to using Maura to further her professional aims. Perhaps the date had come out of a game, and maybe Maura followed through with the date out of a stubborn desire to have Jane make the first move, but Maura was on the date in good faith, out of a sincere wish to at least get to know someone new. Kitty obviously wasn't returning the favor.
"Well," Maura snapped, gathering her purse onto her lap. "It seems that you just ran out of leads here."
Maura never walked out on dates, so she wanted give this woman an opportunity to realize her mistake and ask Maura to stay. Even though Maura wouldn't go on another date with Kitty, it would be nice to feel wanted, or at least a little less used.
Kitty had the decency to look a little bit embarrassed at being so thoroughly shut down by the ME.
"Ok, yeah, I'm kind of getting that," she said.
"Good."
For the first time that evening, an uncomfortable silence settled over the table. Maura again busied herself looking at a wine list she'd already memorized while Kitty appeared desperate for her pie to arrive.
In what Maura could only have described as one of the best timed dispatch calls she'd ever received, Maura's work cell rang.
Maura didn't bother excusing herself, as she normally would. After all, it was business, and Kitty was all about doing business everywhere.
"Doctor Isles," Maura said.
"Hey,uh, Detective Rizzoli here," Jane said in her best official police business voice.
"Hello, how can I help you?" Maura asked, doing her best to maintain a neutral tone and facial expression even though she was relieved, even downright happy to hear Jane on the other end.
Any frustration she'd felt about Jane's stubbornness melted effortlessly away because it was such a welcome interruption. Jane's voice also triggered in Maura a biochemical reaction that caused mood elevation. To use layman's terms, Jane, despite her frustrating stubbornness, made Maura happy, happier than she had been at any point in conversation with Kitty.
"Um, I hear you're on a date," Jane said. It wasn't a question, because Jane knew for a fact that Maura was on a date. It seemed to Maura more like a stalling technique or a statement to set up the rest of the conversation.
"Yes," Maura said.
"How's that going?" Jane asked abruptly. "I mean, I don't need the dirty details, it's, I was just wondering. If she's right there give yes for good, no for bad, maybe for undecided on a second date. If you want me to stop being nosy and annoying, then just go ahead and say wrong number or hang up or something."
"No," Maura responded without hesitation. She glance across the table to see that Kitty was making herself busy reading the dessert list. "Definitely no."
"Ok, well then, I'm just calling cuz you have a dispatch. I'll text you the address. It's for a...Juanita Clementine," Jane said.
"Alright," Maura said, thinking that the name sounded vaguely familiar, though she wasn't able to place it. She also found it a little unusual that Jane and not dispatch had called with the information. "I'll be there shortly."
Maura snapped her phone shut and smiled her first genuine smile since well before the main entrees arrived at the table. It felt a tad inappropriate that she was happy to have a murder interrupt her date, but it was just such a relief to be able to remove herself from the situation.
"I'm sorry. I'm going to have to skip out before coffee," Maura said. It wasn't a lie; she was sorry to be missing out on the coffee, a specialty blend that only this restaurant served. "That was a dispatch from one of our detectives."
"Duty calls, I guess," Kitty said, shrugging as she glanced up from the menu, only managing to sound half interested in what Maura was saying. "See you around then."
"Yes," Maura said as she rose from her seat and tossed a few bills on the table, enough to cover her half and then some. "I suppose you will. Goodnight, Kitty."
"Night, Maura," Kitty said.
Maura nodded in response and turned quickly to leave the restaurant. Just as she opened the door to her car, her phone buzzed with the text from Jane. Now something was definitely going on. Maura knew that address, had definitely seen it somewhere. It was so familiar that Maura suspected she might have even been there before. But she just couldn't place where she'd seen it outside of that vague sense that it just didn't make sense.
As a precaution against getting lost, Maura programmed the address into her GPS, put the car into gear, and drove towards her destination.
A/N-I'll give you each three guess on where Maura's headed ;) And need I ask what ya'll think about Kitty?
You people know your stuff as far as minor RI characters go! Most reviewers knew that Kitty was the first person that Maura ever spoke to in the pilot episode, which surprised me, because she only had the one line.
My favorite football team lost today by the slimmest of margins...some reviews would really help to cheer me up!