The girls play tourist
Jane's viewpoint
Griffith Park was huge, intellectually I'd known that 4000 acres was big, but actually driving through it brought that home to me. We'd met up with Natalie and Ana at ten in the Observatory car park and started working our way towards the Planetarium, which Maura really wanted to see.
I'd considered hiring a bike to get around the Park, but Maura was wearing new white linen pants and heels, which weren't really suitable for bike riding. Sometimes Maura and my ideas of casual didn't really mesh all that well. I was wearing jeans, runners and a polo shirt, while she was turned out in pants, a silk blouse, a Hermes scarf and a wide brimmed hat, stylish but not really casual.
Ana and Natalie seemed to have the same idea as me, Ana in cargo pants, a white shirt and hiking boots, while Natalie had on a tight pair of jeans, a polo shirt, wedge heels and sunglasses. I looked at them both and realised that while I was the guy in our relationship, I didn't know if they played by the same rules.
It was interesting to watch them though, as they strolled around holding hands and happily laughing and kissing, they were more open than I was used to, but I didn't mind, especially as Maura had her hand in mine and was smiling happily at me. I'd do anything to make her smile; god knows she got me into dresses often enough by using that against me, 'Rizzoli, you are so whipped'.
We visited the Planetarium, where its Light of the Valkyries show about the Northern Lights was spectacular, enough so that even Maura was rendered speechless by the amazing imagery above us. I'd never really seen much of the Northern Lights, but the show was cool, I'd even recognised Wagner's Ride of the Valkyries, much to Maura's pleasure, although I wasn't going to ruin it by telling her I only knew it from watching Apocalypse Now.
After the show finished, we wandered back outside, still a little subdued by the impact of the presentation. Eventually we took their car down to the main Park area and wandered around for a while, taking in the parks, gardens and attractions, before heading off to find a coffee and some lunch.
I was actually enjoying the day, I got to spend time with Maura having fun, which is always a positive in my book, and the others were fun company. I hadn't done much outdoors for a while and the day was nice, which made me look forward to spending more time out in it.
We spent some time chatting about that, it seemed that they had often gone hiking regularly in the mountains around Seattle. You could apparently get into the wilderness really quickly from downtown Seattle as it wasn't all that big and they apparently would go camping up there in the summer.
The last time we'd done anything away from the city had been a few months back when Maura and I had taken a weekend off and rented a beach house, just a weekend to spend together, we'd practically spent all of the Saturday in bed, reconnecting after a couple of bad weeks. It had been Maura's suggestion; she had booked everything and then told me. She really is the bossy one, even if she is nice and polite about it. More often than I like I just roll over and do what she says. I sighed. 'Whipped, I swear'.
We'd found a shop which sold cold drinks and ice creams, though Maura had practically had kittens at the thought of eating the soft serve, claiming it was likely full of all sorts of possible airborne and waterborne bacteria. In the end she compromised with a sundae, although I couldn't see much difference.
We wandered around for a bit longer, before finding a café that served coffee. While Maura and Anastasia went to the bathroom, Natalie went to order the coffees while I looked out over the view. It was pretty spectacular, I could see the Hollywood sign in the distance, it was kinda neat. You grew up seeing that sign on television and in the movies; to actually be standing here in LA looking at it with my own eyes was pretty amazing.
I turned around to look back into the shop when I realised something bad was happening. Two black guys, all bling and shit, were hassling Natalie. I started walking towards them, I didn't like the body language, they were deep in her personal space and she was backing off, looking to move away from them. As I stepped up I realised they had been hitting on her and weren't taking no for an answer.
The larger of the two, who I tagged punk 1, stepped to block her movement away
"Hey girl, we wanna party and you look like fun" Natalie stepped away from him and tried to step around punk 2, who also blocked her path. She was trying to calm the situation down and talk her way out, though I don't think these two were listening, or more likely listening to their hormones and thinking with their dick.
"I'm really not interested guys, I'm here with someone else, please let me go" Punk 2 reached out a hand to grab her arm.
"Pretty blonde bitch like you, all uppity and shit, we take care of that for you" Punk 1 had to add his piece.
"Won't be so uppity when we be finished wif you. Fuck that all out of you"
"Please step aside, my partners a cop and will be back in a moment. Let me go" The last was said as punk 2 grabbed her arm and pulled her close. Punk 1 obviously didn't believe her.
"A cop? You too fine to be a cop's bitch, make you mine though"
I was seriously unhappy that I wasn't carrying a pistol; I'd left it in the safe at home as we were on a day off. Hopefully these two would back off if they saw a badge.
"LAPD, back off!" That got their attention, they both turned around, though punk 2 still had Natalie's arm. "Let her go and step away from her"
Both punks looked at me, obviously sizing me up, I reached inside my shirt and pulled the shield out on a lanyard, letting them see it.
"You can back away, then walk away or you can enjoy a ride down to the station and an assault charge, your call" Some distance behind them I saw the bathroom door open, Ana holding it for Maura.
Maura stopped suddenly, obviously seeing what was happening and part turned to tell Ana. Even from here I could see her whole demeanour change, as she pushed past Maura and started moving quickly towards us.
Punk 1 was feeling lucky; obviously he thought they could both take me.
"Fuck you bitch, you think you enough to take us both" I smiled.
"Maybe, but I'm sure me and my partner there can kick your sorry asses" I could see Ana moving in quickly with an expression that promised death for Punk 2, who still had Natalie by the arm.
I could see him thinking I was bluffing when punk 2 spotted Ana, alerting his buddy. Fortunately he let go of Natalie's arm, allowing her to quickly back away. I could see Maura at the counter, probably demanding the person behind the counter call for security, as punk 1, who seemed to be the leader, taunted us.
"I ain't backing down from a pair of pig cunts like you, gonna fuck you both up" I really hoped like hell neither of them was armed, cause I knew Ana wasn't either.
Unfortunately, punk 1 pulled a flick knife out of his back pocket and popped it open. His friend just grinned at Ana and slipped a set of brass knuckles onto his meaty fist.
"You're last chance pal, walk away or get upgraded to attempted assault and resisting arrest" In reply he just grinned and waved the blade in my direction.
Behind him I saw Ana slow and drop into some kind of martial arts stance and start to circle to the left, which put her between Natalie and the threat. I couldn't argue with that, I'd do exactly the same for Maura.
I suddenly jumped back as my punk swung the knife, missing me but not by much. Damn, this clown was serious; I stepped to the left as he swung again, wide slashes rather than trying to stab with the knife, which were easier to block and dodge.
Ana blocked her perp's first two swings, as I noticed we were circling towards each other. Another swing and I tried to block the knife, but he was stronger than I thought, knocking me off balance. Fortunately, Ana saw his arm swing back her way for another go and lunged forward, grabbing it, pulling him off balance and delaying the swing.
I saw the opportunity as his head swung towards her, just enough time to leave me an opening. His wide spread stance gave me an idea and I took a quick step forward and swung my foot in a perfect kick as hard as I possibly could right into his groin.
Tom Brady would have been proud of me, I connected right on target and the guy folded, dropping like a stone and rolling on the floor screaming in a high pitched voice, the knife, the fight and pretty much everything else forgotten as his world shrank to his balls and the agony that had taken up residence there.
"That's right punk, sing soprano for me" I half grinned, half snarled at him on the ground, before looking up at the other fight.
Ana was blocking her assailant's blows, but he was both bigger and stronger than she and was driving her back. Fortunately, he had his back to me, which gave me the perfect opportunity to tackle him round the legs.
The bastard was strong, but I knocked him off balance, toppling to the floor on his back. I was hoping he'd stay down but he was already struggling to get back up when with a yell, Ana jumped up and dropped, knee first, into his chest, smashing him back into the floor.
Even from where I was I could hear the sickening crack as at least one rib gave way, maybe more. Ana sprang back ready to strike again, as I rolled away from his legs and jumped to my feet, but he wasn't interested in much of anything for a while.
We paused for a few seconds, slowly realising that it was over and panting from the exertion and adrenalin rush, before we started to relax. I looked over at Ana, who looked at me, before we exchanged smiles.
"Thanks for the assist Ana"
"No, thank you Jane, he was a bit too big for me"
We were standing there, when Ana was enveloped in a crying Natalie. I had just enough time to smile when Maura reached me.
"Are you alright Jane, are you hurt?" Her eyes and hands were all over me, searching for injuries, but I seemed unhurt.
Natalie was crying on Ana's shoulder, apologising over and over for causing the fight, as Ana slowly calmed her down.
Looking back at Maura and seeing the beginnings of tears in her eyes, I smiled reassuringly.
"I'm ok babe, not a scratch" I lifted my arms wide. "See"
"Jane, you could have been hurt, thank god he wasn't carrying a gun" Just then I heard Natalie's teary voice.
"It's my fault Maura, I should have seen them coming and avoided them, I'm so sorry, are you alright Jane?"
I turned, wrapping an arm around Maura to reassure her.
"I'm fine, which is more than I can say for these two" The one I'd dealt with was curled into a little ball, making small crying noises, while Ana's victim was trying to sit up and failing.
"I'm so sorry Jane, I didn't want you to get hurt. Maura, I'm sorry" Natalie was still recovering her composure, probably a little shocked I thought. Ana wrapped her arms around her and pulled her in, whispering soothing words into her ear. After a few seconds she nodded and stood back, pulling herself together as I noticed a small crowd of onlookers watching. I held up my badge.
"LAPD, has someone called 911?" I saw the Asian kid behind the counter nod.
"Yeah, I called Park security, they should be here soon" I nodded my thanks at him. I looked back to see Natalie standing there, one arm around Anastasia.
"Jane, thank you for rescuing me, I'm so sorry this happened" I shrugged.
"From what I heard, it didn't matter what you were going to say, they weren't listening" Ana nodded.
"Good thing Jane was here though" She looked over and nodded to me. "Thank you"
"Hey, it's ok" I looked up as I saw a pair of uniforms making their way through the other end of the building. The kid behind the counter pointed in our direction and I flashed the badge at them as they approached.
"LAPD, Rizzoli, Major Crimes, we had an attempted assault here" They nodded and looked over the situation, talking in the two punks on the ground and the four of us standing there.
"What happened?"
"These two decided that they wanted to party with my friend here and didn't take no for an answer, they wouldn't back down and were carrying concealed weapons. We subdued them and waited for you guys to arrive" Ana was talking to the other uniform.
"These two will probably need a bus; I felt his ribs crack when I dropped him, plus Jane's probably given that one a new career as an opera singer" The officer with me looked around.
"Well need a statement detective, plus your friends will have to give them as well" I nodded.
"No problem, were all LAPD, except for her, she's FBI" He looked at the two guys on the ground, then back at me, before giving a barking laugh.
"Not their best day was it?" I grinned; I could laugh about it now, even if it wasn't a laughing matter when it happened.
"Nah, not really, they could have walked away at the start and I would have let them go; now they've got a laundry list of charges" Ana looked over our way.
"You can add assaulting a Federal Officer as well" He shook his head as his partner radioed for ambulances and black and whites, then cuffed them.
"Oh they really fucked up this time didn't they?"
Half an hour later we'd each given quick statements. The shops security camera footage backed us up and we were ready to leave. We wandered back out to Natalie and Ana's car and stood around for a moment, before Natalie turned and faced me.
"Jane, thank you. I was really scared, it all happened so fast. One moment I was standing there, the next they weren't talking no for an answer and boxing me in. I appreciate you putting yourself at risk for me" I shrugged.
"It's OK, you weren't at fault; they were. Pretty obvious they weren't going to take no for an answer. I'm just glad I was there to help"
She smiled at me and stepped up, giving me a quick hug and before I knew it, a kiss on the cheek, before stepping back
"None the less thank you, thank you so much" I felt myself flush slightly at the attention.
"It's ok, really" I looked to see Maura beaming at me. "What?"
"You were very brave Jane" She leaned in to give me a kiss, definitely not on the cheek and definitely not innocent.
After about ten seconds she stepped back so we could breath again, at which point I realised I had a silly smile on my face, but hey, it's Maura, she can get away with stuff like that.
I looked back at Natalie and Ana, who had their arms around each other. Ana raised an eyebrow and smiled.
"I don't think I can top that…" " I smirked at her "…and I'm not even going to try" She held out her hand. "Thanks Jane"
We shook hands and exchanged a look, before I smiled.
"You're not bad in a fight Ana, I'd be happy to have you backing me up" She grinned.
"Same here, but let's not make a habit of it"
I noticed Maura and Natalie exchanging a look of their own, as they both pulled us in a little tighter. Maura gave me one of those head tilt looks she does so well.
"I should certainly hope not Jane, I can think of much better things we could be doing right now than fighting" I felt myself blushing again.
"Yeah, like lunch!" I turned to see Ana smiling at me, as I recall we were looking for coffees before all that started. Natalie smiled.
"Lunch sounds good, how about we find somewhere to eat, then we can head off" I frowned.
"Head off where?" Maura smiled at me.
"Shopping darling remember, we're going shopping and after what happened just now you're coming with us" I looked at her.
"We are?"
"Yes you are, obviously I need to keep you with me to stay out of trouble" Natalie was equally adamant.
"Excellent idea Maura, let's get some lunch and we can head off to Beverly Hills" Natalie sounded a little wary.
"Um Blondie, what exactly are we doing in Beverly Hills?" Natalie's voice dripped innocence.
"Why, we're shopping at Agent Provocateur, for some new lingerie to replace the ones you ruined"
"Oh"
"Plus I want to get you something nice, something I'll enjoy seeing you in" I heard Maura's chuckle beside me.
"Not to mention something you'll enjoy taking off her" Natalie grinned as I gave Maura a look.
"Well, yes, exactly" I had to laugh at Ana's expression, until Maura stepped in.
"You need something nice too Jane and now is as good a time as any" She frowned at me playfully, as I realised what I was in for. "Hmm, something in a satin basque, perhaps a fire engine red would do" Ana snickered.
"Yes, fire engine red sounds good" I just shot her the Rizzoli death glare, but she was preoccupied as Natalie was speaking.
"Don't get too cocky Tsarina, I've been browsing their website and there's a black lace corset you'd look simply delicious in, I can't wait to see you in it"
Maura and Natalie smiled at each other as Natalie offered Maura her arm and they strolled towards the car.
Ana and I exchanged a look, complete with rolled eyes as Natalie looked back and laughed.
"C'mon guys, it'll be fun"
Maura winked at me and smiled, before summoning me with a toss of her blonde locks.
Anastasia just looked at me.
"We are so…" I nodded.
"Whipped; the word you're looking for is whipped" She just laughed.
"Yeah" She pulled out the car keys. "C'mon, we've got a whipping to attend"