Anastasia asks Jane to come over
Jane's viewpoint
I was sitting at my desk, feeling like I was slowly sinking in quicksand, getting deeper and deeper, chasing up the leads that Ana was turning up from the Fed's database, mostly gun shops that had sold Barrett's. Hours of countless phone calls across the country and getting nowhere fast, no one knew anything helpful.
I let my head fall back and dragged my fingers through my hair. I just wanted to go home and fall into bed, preferably with Maura giving me one of her wonderful neck massages. After that I just wanted to sleep, I was too tired to even contemplate doing anything more than falling asleep with Maura tonight.
I sighed deeply and pulled my head forward in time to see Ana walk in to the murder room and head my way. I smiled, which turned to a groan when I saw she had another pile of papers in her hand. She smiled at my expression.
"Hey Jane, lucky last ones" I grimaced, waving at the discard pile on my desk.
"Hope they pan out better than the last batch" She sat on the edge of my desk and pursed her lips.
"Nothing turn up so far? I shook my head tiredly.
"A whole lot of nothing" Ana looked at me for a second then leaned in to peer closely at my face. "What's up" I said, a little defensively.
"Jesus Jane, you look like shit" I shrugged, trying to act cool.
"Well thank you, Captain Tact" Ana just looked at me, it felt like she was seeing right through me. "In case you hadn't noticed, we've been a bit busy"
"You need a decent night's sleep Jane. I heard you've been working late most nights" I looked up, pissed. Who had been gossiping about me I wondered?
"Who told you that?" She shrugged, unfazed.
"I hear things. Obviously it's true" I looked away.
"I'll be fine once we close this case" She said nothing, the silence getting longer and longer. Eventually I looked back at her. "What?"
"Take an early night Jane, the case will be here again tomorrow and you'll be a lot sharper after a decent sleep"
I shook my head; even though I wanted to so bad I could taste it. Suddenly Ana reached out and placed her hand over mine. Surprised I looked up.
"I'm amazed Maura hasn't been in to read you the riot act Jane. Shit, Natalie would kick my ass, high heels and all, if she thought I was overdoing it" I shrugged.
"She's kinda used to it. We have a smaller team in Boston and it's not unusual to pull extra hours on a case"
"Well, Major Crimes has a much bigger squad so that you don't have to pull all-nighters. In fact it seems most of them have already wrapped up for the night"
I looked around surprised; only Flynn was still at his deck, going over witness statements. I hadn't realised that everyone else had gone. Well, almost everyone, I saw the Chief still at her desk, doing paperwork. What time was it anyway? Oh, 7.45. I groaned out loud.
Ana looked over to Flynn and called out
Hey Lieutenant, what are you still doing here?" Startled, he looked up.
"Oh hi Ana, I must have lost track of time" He looked at his watch and cursed, pushing his chair back and grabbing for his coat.
"Thanks for reminding me, I have a meeting tonight. Night guys"
Night Flynn" I called after him as he hurried out the door. Ana chuckled, looking down at me.
"One down, two to go"
"What do you mean?" She pushed herself up and wandered in the direction of the Chief's office. Oh shit. Before I could say anything she called out to the office.
"Good evening Chief Johnson" I groaned again and buried my head in my hands. Why did she have to interfere?"
"Well good evening to you Anastasia, what brings you down here so late?"
"I was dropping some leads on Jane's desk on my way out the door, when I noticed her, Flynn and you were still here. He just bolted, so that leaves just you two" She looked up and out at me.
"I'd lost track of time. I suppose we should wrap up for the night" I heard Ana's voice as she walked back towards me.
"Sounds good" I looked up to see Chief Johnson wandering out of her office and headed my way. Oh Shit.
"Detective Rizzoli, you should head home as well" I tried to smile.
"It's OK, Chief, just running down a few more gun shops" She stopped next to the desk and looked down at me.
"I would rather you head on home. Those gun shops will still be there in the morning and you have someone waiting for you" I tried to wave her off concerns away.
"I was just going to work back a little longer" She was having none of it.
"It's getting late here, the only gun shops likely to still be open are in Alaska and Hawaii and they can wait as well" She smirked. "Besides, I don't want a very annoyed Maura Isles coming after me for working her girlfriend to death"
I looked up, startled. I hadn't really mentioned our relationship in front of the Chief, or anyone else in the squad really. Only Ana and Natalie were really aware of it, or so I thought.
"Don't worry; you've both been quite discreet, which I appreciate. You don't work in the same squad so it's really none of my, or anyone else's business" I nodded slowly and she smiled.
"Not like Anastasia here, she and Natalie can barely keep their hands to themselves" I grinned at Ana's yelp of protest
"That's not true! At work anyway, we're quite careful" I rolled my eyes.
"Yeah, right, I see the eye sex between you two constantly; it never stops" I heard the Chief's giggle behind me and turned to look at her raising my eyebrows at me "What?"
"Jane, you and Maura can give them a run for their money anytime" I paused, partly because it was the first time she had called me Jane and partly because I was wondering if we were really that obvious.
"We're not that bad" I protested weakly.
"Oh yes you are!" Ana grinned at me triumphantly.
"Hey, you're supposed to be on my side"
"I am, I'm harassing you to go home for entirely selfish reasons" I looked over at her through lidded eyes.
"And what might they be?" She shrugged, glancing at the Chief.
"I want you to be rested before you take on Sanchez on the pistol range" I felt my face flush.
"How did you know about that?"
""Natalie was there remember" On yeah, I forgot.
"So what's your interest then?" She shrugged.
"I have a side bet with Gabriel, $40 dollars on you to win" I was about to reply when the Chief interrupted.
"I hope you haven't done your money Anastasia, Julio's a fine shot"
"Well, a little bird whispered in my ear that Jane has shot marksman since her recruit days" I looked up, startled.
"How did you find that out?" She snickered.
"Hey, I work for the evil Feds, Big Brother and all that. I checked first before I laid a bet" I was staring up at Ana, my mouth hanging open when Chief Johnson spoke.
"Anastasia, I think the Bureau might consider that unethical" She looked back at the Chief.
"Maybe, maybe not; when I decided to look up Jane's scores, I also looked up the rest of the squad's. Everyone on the team shoots well up in the LAPD rankings"
"Well, I do insist all my officers spend time at the pistol range, lord knows we find ourselves having to use them often enough"
"You're not too bad yourself Chief. In fact you shoot damn well, particularly for a senior officer" Chief Johnson smiled fondly to herself.
"Oh, that was my daddy's work, he taught me to shoot with a BB gun almost as soon as I could hold one"
"I can't believe you looked up my, our, scores" I was still shocked. Ana was unfazed and unapologetic.
"One day I might be relying on one of you for backup, it's nice to know my trust is well placed" she smiled at me, almost fondly. "Anyway I want you well rested before you shoot. My moneys riding on you"
I noticed Chief Johnson was looking at me, her eyes narrowed and her hands on her hips. I gulped, wondering if I was in trouble. Ana noticed it as well.
"You're not angry are you Chief?" She looked up at her and smiled.
"No, I was just thinking it's a shame I can't get into the betting pool, but it's not right for the boss to be backing one team member over another, is it?"
"No it's not. Not unless you can get someone else to lay the bet on for you" Ana winked at us.
"I wonder who would do such a thing?"
"Probably anyone would Chief, if you asked nicely".
"Are you trying to corrupt me Agent Romanov?" I could hear the teasing tone in the boss's voice. She was enjoying this.
"Me? No, we leave that to those truly sneaky CIA types. Remember I'm from the Bureau, one of Hoovers incorruptible G Men"
"Really, you must be talking about a different bureau than the one I'm familiar with"
"Well, we're nothing if not flexible in our positions" I suddenly snorted, remembering that ass Dean back in Boston. Both looked at me. The Chief smiled.
"Looks like I'm not the only one having some difficulties with that image"
I thought about explaining, but let it ride, seeing a blush creep across Ana's face. I suddenly realised that her last statement could be taken several different ways.
Hastily changing the subject Ana looked at the Chief.
"I'm sure I could place a bet for you Chief" Hmm, it wasn't just me; someone else had seen where there that innuendo had been going. I desperately tried not to think of Ana and Natalie in various positions naked.
Chief Johnson if anything smiled even wider.
"Why that's very kind of you to offer Special Agent Romanov, but I'll have to decline your offer on this occasion" I caught a wicked look in her eye as she continued.
"After all, the last thing any of us want is to see you in an embarrassing position" Oh god, did she just say that? Ana if anything went even redder.
I could see the Chief was smiling and looked quite relaxed, more so than most of the time I had seen her since I arrived. She was really enjoying the teasing. Ana made a valiant effort to salvage her position.
"I'm sure you won't see us in anything embarrassing Chief" I decided two could tease as easily as one.
"That's good Ana; I wouldn't want to hear anything embarrassing either. That would be…awkward" Ana looked at me with an appalled expression as Chief Johnson chuckled.
"I don't think you're going to win from this position Anastasia, perhaps you should quit while you're behind" Just then I let out a massive yawn, causing them both to laugh. Ana took the chance to escape with some of her dignity intact.
"I think we should all be heading home, it's quite late enough" The Chief smirked at her, fully aware of Ana's ploy. I decided to push Brenda, given Maura's recent comments and concerns about her well-being.
"What about you Chief, you heading home too?" She looked at me and sighed.
"I really should finish these fitness reports, HR is giving me hell about them not being finished yet" I shrugged,
"Seems to me they'll bitch whether you finish them tonight and hand them in in the morning, or finish them in the morning and hand them in tomorrow afternoon. Might as well face them with a good night's sleep behind you" Ana smiled.
"I came up here to hassle Jane into going home at a reasonable hour, as her superior officer you should be leading by example" Chief Johnson raised an eyebrow at her.
"I think the only examples I can provide are bad ones" She sighed. "OK, I'll wrap up as well"
"We'll walk you down to the car park; I can't exactly say I like any of us taking that long walk alone in the dark at this hour to get there" The Chief nodded.
"Let me log off and grab my bag" She turned and walked back into her office. Ana turned back to me as she walked away and I started logging out of the system.
"There was another reason I dropped by"
"Oh?"
"Yes, I was told to tell you to come over to our place on Saturday morning. Maura and Nat are apparently going shopping" I groaned; Maura's shopping expeditions are legendary.
"On Rodeo Drive, if you want to know" I grimaced.
"Why am I coming, are we holding their bags?" Ana shook her head.
"Nope, Natalie and Maura are doing some girl-girl bonding over retail therapy, while we do some of the same, over at the FBI pistol range"
"You really don't want to lose that bet do you?" She grinned wickedly.
"I don't like losing, period" I understood how she felt, I felt the same way.
Just then Chief Johnson walked up in a peach trench coat, that massive bag over her shoulder.
"We ready?" I stood up.
"Yep"
"Then let's get out of here"