A/N-Here's an all Jane chapter...filling in some of the blanks on Jane's end...
I still don't own any part of R&I, otherwise there would be all kinds of wish fulfillment on your TV screen for all the lovely Rizzles shippers :)
It'd been a silly thing to do. A silly whim. Jane never would have made that call if it hadn't been for Frost egging her on, pushing her buttons until he convinced her that making the call she had just made was the only reasonable course of action.
It'd started out normal enough, with a phone call to her partner.
"Hey Jane," Frost said as soon as he answer. Jane could also hear a faint rustling sound in the background.
"Hey. Am I interrupting something?" Jane asked.
"Nope, just bringing in some groceries," Frost said.
"You mean beer?"
"You got it," Frost said. "Hey, you know it's a Saturday night and I'm not on call. I'm gonna crack open a few cold ones. Maybe watch a movie or something."
"How you feeling about coming on over with some of that beer to repay that debt from the Robber last week?" Jane asked. "Just me over here. Watching the Celts kick some ass for once."
"Where's Maura? Doesn't she usually hang out at your place?"
While that was true, and Maura did spend most of their shared time off with Jane at Jane's place, it was really more out of convenience. Jane's apartment was much closer to the precinct so they just kind of ended up there a lot of times. It didn't mean that Jane needed Maura around every minute. Nope, not at all.
"Yeah. Not sure exactly where she is right now," Jane said. It was true; Jane had no clue on how to get to that fancy restaurant Maura had mentioned. "So what's the deal? You in?"
There was a brief pause on the other end before Barry spoke again.
"Guess I could use a little company," Frost said. "You know I'm not quite as pretty as Maura or as...informative, but I'll do my best."
"First of all, you are a very pretty man, Barry Frost, and don't let anyone tell you otherwise," Jane said, continuing over Frost's protests. "Second of all you are not a Maura replacement, because I do not have a designated Maura space to fill. Third of all, shut up and make sure you bring some quality beer. None of that Keystone crap."
"Ok, ok, I'll be there in a few," Barry said. "Save a seat for me."
That conversation had somehow led to the conversation with Barry that lead to the Maura conversation. Much like the phone call before it, the conversation started innocent and normally enough, with some good-natured ribbing between two partners over a few beers and a good ball game.
"You think he's sexy, don't you?" Frost asked as he watched Jane stare intently at the screen during crucial free throw. "I can tell. I can tell you'd just love to have your way with him."
"Who? Him?" Jane replied, gesturing at the TV as the player in question missed the second free throw. "Can't even shoot free throws. So unattractive. Now Ray Allen. That man can shoot free throws in his sleep and he's got the sexiest three-point shot in the league."
"You're saying you'd sleep with Ray Allen?" Frost asked skeptically.
"Nah. Just admire a beautiful thing when I see it, you know," Jane said. In the time it took her to take a sip of her beer, one of the rookies made an impressive dunk over a guy that had a few inches on him.
"Damn! Now those are the kinda moves that'll make my panties drop," Frost said.
Jane raised her eyebrows.
"You trying to tell me something Frost?"
Frost laughed.
"Nah, I'm all about the ladies," Frost said as he rested his feet on Jane's coffee table. "How 'bout you?"
"What do you mean?" Jane asked, her voice coming out a little more strained that she'd expected it to.
"You trying to tell me something too?" Frost asked. He paused for a long, long second keeping a very close eye on Jane's reaction. "I mean with the Ray Allen sexy talk. You trying to say you like them tall, dark and bald?"
"For your information, I said his three point shot was sexy. I said nothing about the man himself," Jane said. "And I don't even know why we're having this conversation."
"Because you're drinking my beer," Frost said. "I get to decide where this conversation goes."
"And you want the conversation to be about which basketball players I wanna sleep with?" Jane asked.
Frost shrugged.
"It wasn't in the evening's master plan," Frost said. "But it's entertaining me now."
"How? How is this conversation entertaining you? It should be awkward," Jane said. "You're like my little brother."
"I have my reasons, but it's mostly because it's so easy and fun to annoy you," Frost said.
"Spoken like a true little brother," Jane muttered.
She smiled despite her mild annoyance at her partner's insistence on pursuing a ridiculous conversation just for the sake of pestering her. It was comfortable and easy to chat like this, and Jane enjoyed the fact that she'd grown close enough with Barry that they could tease each other without anyone ever getting offended. It'd taken some adjustments, but they'd found a good, comfortable place as both friends and coworkers.
They watched the waning minutes of the third quarter in relative silence, occasionally commenting on a nice block or, in Jane's case, swearing at a few missed calls. For the most part though they both just sipped their beers and watched the game.
Until a commercial break, when Frost decided to make a casual observation, almost like he was just thinking out loud.
"You know who I think is sexy in that 'just admiring a beautiful thing when you see it' type of way?" Frost said. "Maura. She's just got it, you know?"
What the actual hell was Jane suppose to say to that? How was Jane suppose to even process that kind information and come up with a response that was remotely appropriate?
Jane took a long sip of her beer to give herself a moment to think.
"I don't know, Frost. I mean she's one of my best friends, for Christssake!"
"I know. It's not like I'm going to make a move or anything, not any more," Frost said, shrugging as he finished off the last of his beer. "She's totally into someone else."
"Yeah?" Jane replied casually as possible, though she felt her heart rate spike as soon as Frost said it.
Either he knew more than Jane ever wanted anyone to know about her relationship with Maura, or Maura was crushing on some guy that was probably not good enough for her, or Frost knew about Kitty, who Maura was definitely way too good for. Regardless, Jane didn't like to hear what Frost was saying, not one bit.
"Who is it?" Jane asked, sounding more demanding and interested than she had intended.
"You," Frost said. "But I think you know that already."
Another brief pause hung between them. Frost at least had the decency to keep his eyes on the television as if they were still just having a casual conversation about anything.
"C'mon, Frost," Jane said, fidgeting with the label of her nearly empty bottle of beer to buy a few more seconds. "She's my friend. We're just friends. She's just my friend, a good friend, but, yeah, friends."
"Not for her, not with the way she looks at you when she thinks no one else is looking," Frost said.
"Yeah, and how's that?" Jane asked.
"Mostly like she's starving and you're a fine cut of filet mignon," Frost said.
"Oh my God!" Jane said, nearly choking on the beer she'd thought it safe to take a sip of. "Did you seriously just say that? Did you honestly imply that my best friend looks at me like she wants to eat me?"
"Didn't imply anything. I'm saying it," Frost said , grinning as he shrugged and put his nearly empty bottle on the table. "She wants you bad, but it's also like she adores you too. C'mon. You're one of Boston's finest. You telling me you seriously never noticed?"
"Well, I, I don't, I'm..." Jane stammered.
She was starting to get a little nervous about how much Frost might know about Jane's own feelings if he was so spot on in his observation of Maura. She did have a better poker face than Maura, but Frost was damn good at reading people, and he knew Jane well enough to pick up on her tells.
"Is that a yes or a no?" Frost asked in a very good imitation of his interrogation voice.
"Why do I feel like I'm suddenly in interrogation?" Jane asked.
Truth was, Jane was starting to realize that he'd been using subtle interrogation tactics all along. Misleading questions to gauge a person's reaction, casual mentions of a major development to catch the other party with their guard down. Damn Frost, that sneaky, smart little bastard.
Frost just grinned and reached for his bottle again.
"Is this conversation getting you a little hot under the collar, detective?" Frost asked with that same teasing smile on his lips.
"Oh, just shut up and watch the game, junior, or you get all the paperwork on Monday," Jane said.
And, like any good interrogator, Frost knew when to drop it, at least for a little while, until he knew Jane was so completely wrapped up in the game that she wouldn't get nearly as pissed off as she normally would.
"I think you should go for it," Frost said. "If it was me, there'd be no question."
"Go for what?" Jane asked without taking her eyes off of the television.
"Maura. If I knew for fact that she was as into me as she's into you, then I would definitely go for it," Frost said.
"But, Frost that's-oh, man c'mon, Travelling! That's travelling!" Jane complained before returning to the conversation, which Frost had conveniently chosen to start with the score tied and two minutes to play. "That's ridiculous. I work with her. I don't sleep with coworkers."
"Is that the only reason?" Frost asked.
"Huh?"
"Because if that's the only reason, then it's a pretty shitty one. There's no rule against it, especially since she's not an officer, just an advisement that no one takes seriously anyway," Frost said.
"But, I, Frost, I'm not," Jane said, turning to face him, her voice sounding strangled and nervous despite her best effort to remain calm as the conversation approached the area she'd managed to never mention with Frost.
"Hey, I'm not asking for details. Just saying that if you're even a little gay or bi, or anything but 100% straight, then you should go for it," Frost said. "Because that Maura, she's special. Doesn't come around too often that someone looks at you like that, all sexy and sweet."
"Yeah, I know," Jane said. The words were out before she could stop them, and they didn't come out in a way that she could play off as a casual remark. She'd sounded thoughtful, even dreamy. God, Jane hated that word, but there was no other way to describe it.
Jane looked at Frost, trying to read his reaction to her implicit revelation. He appeared completely unsurprised and smiled warmly.
"Call her," he said, nudging her shoulder. "I dare you."
"What are we, in sixth grade? No. Besides, she's on a date," Jane said.
"So you do know where she is," Frost replied.
"Not exactly. Some fancy fusion type place or something. I'm not going to call her while she's on a date," Jane said.
"Do the dispatch trick then," Frost said. "Works every time."
"Only problem with that is she gets hives and hyperventilates when she has to lie," Jane said. "Nope. Not doing it. Let her enjoy her food with Kitty."
"Someone sounds a little resentful," Frost said, muting the TV as it went to commercial. Jane glared at him, but Frost shrugged and held out his cell phone. "C'mon, call her. She won't have to lie if she thinks it really is a dispatch."
"No."
"I know you want to," Frost said, shoving the phone into Jane's hand. "Just check see if the date's going well, and if it's no good, then she's got a dispatch. If it's good, then you were just calling to see how things are going. No harm, no bruises on that big Rizzoli ego."
"Shut up," Jane said. She flipped the phone open looked at it then shut it again before tossing it back to Frost. "No, I can't do it."
"Chicken," Frost said. "Never thought I'd see the day Jane Rizzoli would be afraid to do something."
"I am not afraid. I am so unafraid," Jane said, subconsciously rubbing her palm with her thumb. "And I'm not resentful. I just know Kitty, and she's a raging bitch. Maura could do a hundred times better."
"That doesn't sound resentful at all," Frost said.
"Damn right it's not," Jane muttered, turning back to the television to see that, with timeouts, only a minute had run off the clock.
"No, that's straight up jealousy," Frost said. "With a little bit of protectiveness, but mostly jealousy."
"Is not!" Jane said, realizing only after the words came out how lame they made her sound. It also came out about an octave above her normal voice, so it was abundantly clear to both of them that Jane was lying.
Frost raise his eyebrows and handed her the phone again.
"I don't know what is going on with you two, but there's something I don't know about here," Frost said. "And you need to sort it out."
"But-
"Call her," Frost said, placing the phone in Jane's hand again. "Unless you're scared?"
Jane groaned and looked down at the phone. She was not scared, and she was definitely not jealous of Kitty. Who the hell calls themselves Kitty anyway? Certainly not anyone that Maura would enjoy going on a date with, Jane thought.
She looked up at the television to see that the Celtics were all but assured a win, up by five points with the ball and fifteen seconds left on the clock.
No more excuses. Jane sighed heavily and flipped the phone open to dial Maura's number, a number she'd memorized long ago from dialing it so many times on her house phone when her cell wasn't nearby.
Jane kept eye contact with Frost the entire time she spoke on the phone. He smiled and winked when he realized that Jane was 'dispatching' Maura to the apartment and nearly ruined the whole damn thing when he almost laughed out loud at the pseudonym that Jane gave Maura. She just hoped Maura would get the inside joke about Juanita so she wouldn't be completely blindsided by their ruse.
After making sure that Jane really did send the text to Maura's cell, Frost took his coat from the back of the couch and pulled it on.
"Whoa, where you going?" Jane asked.
"Game's over. Figure I'll go catch a cab and head back, get some sleep," Frost said, smirking knowingly.
"Well, what am I suppose to do with her then? I thought you were gonna hang around," Jane said. She hoped Frost didn't sense the anxiety, the nervousness that settled in when Jane realized that she would have to be alone with Maura after the conversation she'd just had with Frost.
"You two hang out together all the time. Whatever you normally do," Frost said, with faux-innocence that even Maura could have easily detected.
"Yeah, but we've never hung out after having my partner tell me that my best female friend wants to affectionately eat me," Jane said.
"First of all, if you are a quarter of the detective I know you are, that information is not something you're just learning. Second, stop being such a wimp. I've seen you cope with a stab wound from a rusty knife better than this," Frost said as he zipped up his light, fall coat. "Third of all, keep the beer."
Before Jane could say anything more, Frost was opening the door. He'd almost shut the door behind him when Jane found her voice.
"Hey, Frost," Jane said. He turned to look at her. "Thanks."
Frost smiled and nodded. He knew. Beyond a shadow of a doubt, he knew. If he had any doubt before, Jane knew put those doubts out of his mind with her parting words. She wanted to tell him, and that was the best way that Jane could think to communicate the information without having to say out loud that she returned Maura's feelings in equal measure.
It was the first time she'd ever acknowledged that to herself or anyone else, and it wasn't nearly as scary as she thought it would be. She was nervous, sure, but the good kind of nervous, the kind that gives a person a burst of energy rather than the kind that creates a wave of nausea.
"Any time, Rizzoli," he said. "And good luck getting the girl."
Jane didn't confirm or deny Frost's implication, instead opting to grin and pat him on the back before closing the door behind her partner.
A/N-So, some of you got the location and name right, and more imaginary bonus points go to those folks! Sorry to delay the meeting, but I thought this was a part of the story that you needed to see first...that meeting is coming up next chapter!
I love making people happy, which is one of a number of reasons that I write fanfiction. I think it's so cool to know that I've made someone happy even though I don't know them and they probably live hundreds, even thousands of miles away. Seriously, I can't think of any other way I could do that :) So I thank you guys for telling me when my story entertains you, because each of those reviews make me smile my happy smile. So, you see, reviews really are appreciated :)