A/N: Sorry for the delay. Severe writer's block but happy holidays and also Happy New Year!

Disclaimer: Read Ch. 1

"We are all trying to get over the person who broke our hearts. We are all far from perfect." – Alex Rosa

Ch. 8: The Only Suspect (Unfortunately)

"Why am I not surprised that you're here, Jane?"

"How did you find Maura's place, Devyn," Jane asked as her cousin leaned against the doorway.

"Former detective," Devyn replied simply. However, Jane didn't take the answer, crossing her arms in front of her chest. Devyn rolled her eyes at her cousin and stated, "I asked your mother for the address because I wanted to talk to Dr. Isles but it can wait."

Devyn then shoved her hands into the pockets of her leather jacket, turning back toward the porch. Jane bit her lip and leaned against at the window frame then felt a hand on her shoulder, prompting her to look over her shoulder to see Maura. Their eyes met before Jane glanced back at the porch and shouted, "Devyn!"

Her cousin stopped and looked up to see Jane gesture for her to come back. The professor walked back and entered the home, taking her jacket off then walked into the living room. She stood toward the side while Jane and Maura resumed their seats on the sofa. Tension hung over them for a brief moment until Maura asked, breaking the silence, "How can I help you, Professor D'Angelo?"

"Um…I…" Devyn looked down at her shoes then answered finally, "I wish to discuss some pages that are missing from my journals." She then slinked into her back pocket to reveal the ripped pages and handed them to Maura.

Jane watched the exchange then asked her cousin who took a seat across from them. "Why didn't you ever tell us," Jane asked softly. Devyn shrugged but Jane shook her head and retorted, "Dev…"

"I underestimated him," Devyn replied quietly. Jane watched as her cousin leaned back in the chair with a closed off expression. Jane looked over at Maura who was going over the journal pages, reading them until she looked up and locked eyes with Devyn.

"You thought you had him," Maura pointed out.

Devyn nodded, "I had it all in my hands then he got away…again and again…" She ran her fingers along her chin and continued, "Bastard took a lot from me and by branding me, it just reminded me that I would always be a step behind him."

That's it…there's more. There has to be more. "But why did you not ask for help," Jane demanded suddenly.

"Jane," Maura whispered, trying to calm her girlfriend.

"No, Maur. She cut ties from the family and I," Jane retorted. The detective then looked back at her cousin and asked again, "Why didn't you ask for help?"

"Because I couldn't drag you into it," Devyn retorted.

Jane scoffed, "Too late."

Devyn looked down and continued, "Look…I get it. I fucked up in my life and I can never let it down. My marriage ended, my career ended, I lost touch with my parents and…my siblings and I lost touch with you…I regret it all, Jane."

"I could have helped you."

"You could have but I also knew that the Bard was serious about his threat. I didn't want you or the family hurt so I thought…letting you guys go was what I had to do…I didn't expect the aftermath and I'm sorry, Jane for everything. I missed you."

Jane sighed at these words and leaned back in the chair with Maura, touching Jane's shoulder. Devyn noticed the small exchange, giving a small smile before it disappeared and Jane inquired, "Did it hurt?"

"Extremely," Devyn answered honestly. "But I survived especially with Em by me."

"Dev, was it true about Angelique?"

Devyn sighed, "Yeah…it's true."

"Did she ever tell you why?"

"Yeah…but…I can't forgive her for it. I know I neglected my marriage a bit but I expected my ex to understand but he hated the job. He never cared and…Angelique got what she wanted even if it means hurting others."

"Including family."

Devyn nodded, "It's something I didn't expect."

She then pulled out her pocket watch, clicking it open, which prompted Jane to ask quietly, "You still have it?"

"Yeah, it reminds me of all the good times," Jane then watched as her cousin gave a small smile, something that she hadn't seen in a long time, and for a brief moment, she saw the Devyn that she knew. The quiet personality with a soft shell instead of this harder and more combative person, it was refreshing but at the same time, it was sad.

The detective snapped out of her thoughts when she noticed that Devyn had stood up and walked over to the front door with Maura. She got up and walked over to the front door then stopped as Devyn apologized, "I'm sorry for crashing your time together." Jane heard the emphasis, prompting an eyebrow to go up. Devyn rolled her eyes with a small smirk and she commented, "Jane…I see the way you look at her…I'm not blind." The professor then looked back at Maura, giving her a small nod, "Have a nice night."

Jane closed the door slowly and looked back at Maura who was smiling. "Well, that was…enlightening," she commented.

"So my cousin approves us," Jane pointed out.

"Not too surprised," Maura replied as she moved closer to the brunette, wrapping her arms around her neck. "You worried that she knows?"

Jane wrapped her arms around Maura's waist and retorted, "Nope. My cousin won't tell Ma or the others which I would prefer to tell them on my own."

"And what exactly are you going to tell them, Jane?"

"That I'm dating the most beautiful woman in the world who happens to be a super genius." A bright smile formed on Maura's face, prompting Jane to smile back. Their faces inched closer as Jane commented, "I said the right thing."

Maura nodded, "I wouldn't call me a super genius but, you forgot to mention something."

"That is?"

"That she's your girlfriend…"

Jane's smile widened, "Yeah?"

"Yeah."

R&I

Eyes opened the next morning with Jane looking over to see Maura fast asleep. After Devyn's visit, they decided to retreat to Maura's bedroom. They didn't do much since the relationship was still fresh but it didn't stop them from making out for a good hour or two. They then fell asleep with Maura cuddling into Jane and Jane wrapping her arm around Maura to hold her close.

The detective smiled at the doctor as she slept. She was tempted to touch her cheek and lean in to kiss her but she didn't want to wake her up for she looked beautiful. God, when did I get mushy, Jane pondered as she slipped out of the bed slowly.

She descended the staircase and let out a low groan as she stretched. She then entered the kitchen to see that her mother hadn't invaded yet, prompting her to look over at Maura's coffee machine. "This is going to be fun," she commented sarcastically.

For the next couple of minutes, she attempted to operate the coffee machine. Despite being best friends with Maura for a number of years, she still found the coffee machine difficult to set up. Finally, she got it going then walked toward the front door to see if Maura's newspaper was in. However, when she opened the door, she found that on Maura's front porch was a cardboard box with it addressed: To Detective Jane Rizzoli and Doctor Maura Isles.

Immediately, at the sight, Jane's cop senses went into high gear. She backed away from the door and grabbed the house phone. "Korsak," Vince answered after the first ring.

"Vince, get down to Maura's house. I have an unknown package with no markings and I'm not sure what the fuck it is," Jane informed immediately.

"Don't touch it and I'm sending the bomb squad."

At these words, Jane ended the phone call and raced upstairs to Maura's bedroom. She went to Maura's side of the bed and shook her gently. Maura stirred slowly, "Jane…why are you…shaking me?"

"There's a package at the door and it has no return. It's address to both of us."

"What," Maura sat up, more alert.

"Korsak is coming with a bomb squad and that means we need to evacuate the house at the moment." Maura nodded in agreement and grabbed her robe then slipped her slippers on. Jane then grabbed her Red Sox sweater then took Maura's hand, walking out of the bedroom. As they walked down the stairs, Maura stopped in the kitchen with realization in her eyes. "What's wrong," Jane questioned.

"We need to get Bass…"

Jane looked down at the ground and stared down at the tortoise. She then looked back at Maura before she sighed, "Okay, let's go."

The goal was simple: get Bass and migrate him over to the guesthouse with Angela who was watching over Jo Friday already. After some heavy lifting, Jane and Maura got Bass through the backdoor, prompting Maura to knock on the guesthouse door. Angela opened it with wide eyes as Jane used all her strength to lift Bass over the threshold as Angela asked, "What's going on? Why are you bringing Bass here?"

"Ma, I… will explain…it…later," Jane groaned.

"Jane," Korsak called out.

"Back here," Jane shouted back.

Korsak appeared with a couple bomb squad personnel. "Where's the package," he questioned.

"Front door."

They went through the backdoor and approached the front door while Maura and Jane stood back with Angela. Slowly, they approached the strange package and one of the bomb squad members moved even closer. He pulled out a device that the bomb squad used to detect a bomb but as the device began to range for detection, they realized that there was no bomb activity.

"No bomb activity," the bomb squad tech announced.

Jane, Maura, and Korsak approached the package with Jane glancing over at Korsak. "If there's no bomb in there then what's in there," Korsak questioned.

"Who knows but I want to find out," Jane answered. Korsak then handed Jane a pair of crime scene gloves, which she placed on immediately and crouched down to the box. "It's not even tape closed," Jane commented.

"That's weird."

"Be careful, Jane," Maura said softly.

Jane gave a small smile toward Maura then leaned forward. She placed her hands on top of the box and opened it slowly before she jumped back with a yelp, "Jesus Christ." At these words, Maura and Korsak leaned over immediately and stepped back in disgust as well for inside the box was a man's head.

"It's not a very clean cut," Maura commented as she observed the head in the morgue.

Jane leaned back against the other autopsy table and questioned, "Do we have an identification yet?"

"His face is going through the database. Hopefully, he'll be in our records."

"Hopefully…" The autopsy doors were then pushed open suddenly with Korsak, Frost, Frankie, Dean and finally, Cavanaugh. "Sir," Jane greeted at the sight of her lieutenant.

"Can we confirm that this is the Bard's doing," Cavanaugh questioned immediately.

Maura placed the head down and placed the sheet over it as she retorted, "I can't confirm if it is."

"Is there a note," Agent Dean questioned next.

"No," Jane answered gruffly.

"Where's your cousin?"

Jane turned her body fully and questioned back, "Why do you ask?"

"Because she's the only link to this case and I want to know where she was last night."

"She was at my residence to talk then she left for home," Maura answered instead of Jane.

"I can vouch about Devyn being at Maura's place," Jane told Dean.

"But you don't know her whereabouts after though," Dean questioned. Jane bit her lip and glanced at Maura who looked a bit nervous. They knew the answer to the question and knew that if they answered, Devyn might be the number one suspect for Dean.

"Rizzoli," Cavanaugh called. She turned her head toward her boss to see that he had a soft but serious expression. "Do you know about Devyn's whereabouts after she left Doctor Isles' home," he asked.

Jane looked down and answered, "No."

Agent Dean smirked slightly then retorted, "I'm going to send a car to her apartment." He then walked out of the morgue, prompting Cavanaugh to glance at Jane briefly, locking eyes with Vince before chasing after Dean.

"Okay," Korsak turned, "we got a couple minutes to get a hold of Devyn before Dean does."

Jane nodded in agreement as she pulled out her cell phone from its holder. She was about to dial when her cell phone started to ring and the caller ID was UNKNOWN. She gave a cautious expression toward Korsak who gestured for her to answer the call. "Rizzoli," Jane answered unsurely.

"Did you and Doctor Isles like my gift, Detective," the Bard asked right out.

"Oh yeah, it was lovely. Hope you can tell me where the other half is," Jane snipped back.

"Hm…" Jane heard, sensing a smirk on his face. "It's a puzzle. Look far and wide but don't think too hard."

Great more riddles…Jane thought. "Tell me, Bard, why are you back here in Boston? Why resume your traditional killings when you've been marking everyone else in your previous crimes like Devyn?"

Upon hearing the Bard's name mentioned through the phone, Frost pulled out his tablet and began to trace the call. Suddenly, Jane heard the Bard chuckle and commented, "My, aren't we curious, Jane."

"It's Detective Rizzoli."

Another chuckle came out, "Definitely, Devyn's cousin but to answer, I have some things to finish up here in Boston if you must know."

"Why now?"

"Why not," the Bard retorted. "I wonder if you got my note?"

Jane walked toward the box, placed crime scene gloves and pushed the folds open once more to see an envelope attached to the flap. She pulled it out and opened the envelope as she read aloud, "Let's play a quick game, Detectives. I give you one piece of the puzzle. Find the other half. 'Life's but a walking shadow, a poor player/ That struts and frets his hour upon the stage/ And then is heard no more; it is a tale…' "

" 'Told by an idiot, full of sound and furry/ Signifying nothing.' I'm going to guess htat you won't be able to find that body in time."

"You'll be surprise what I can do."

"Impress me, Detective. Devyn was a like a trick pony for a couple months but she lost the juice. Nothing but an empty shell especially as a professor; always in her office or a classroom, speaking the words that have haunted her for years, trying to pick their brains to understand it all."

Jane' eyes narrowed, "Devyn's smarter than you will ever be."

"You perceive that but, she isn't and nor are you, Jane."

"I'll prove you wrong."

"You can say that. However, I should remind you that you should pay attention to the one's you love. That's your first step of being smart."

Jane's grip on her phone tightened at these words. "What do you mean by that," Jane hissed.

"Think about it, Jane."

The line then went dead with Jane glancing at Maura with a worried expression. She then looked at Frost who sighed and said, "His call bounced all over the place."

"Great…"

The detective then went back to her phone and began to dial quickly with Maura asking, "Jane, what did he say?"

"He's threatening to keep an eye on family," Jane retorted as she placed her phone up to ear. "Frankie, call Ma and try to get a hold of her. Once you know where she's at…"

"I'll take Frost with me," Frankie informed her.

"Take Nina as well."

"D'Angelo," Jane heard.

The detective let out a sigh of relief at the sound of her cousin's voice. "Dev, where are you," she asked immediately.

"Hospital. Waiting for your only witness to wake up so you can question him."

"You're not supposed to be there."

"Not doing anything. I've been trying to piece how all your victims are related because usually…. emphasize on usually, the Bard use to connect them."

"Anything yet?"

"None so far but what's the real reason you're calling, Jane?"

"I had a head dropped off at Maura's house."

"What?"

Jane ran her hand through her hair and continued, "I had a box delivered to Maura's place and it had a head inside. We're going through identification right now but Dean is stating that you're a suspect."

"Fuckin' hell…I hate that motherfucker."

"I also had a call from the Bard."

"Can this day start out any worse?"

"He said that he came back for unfinished business, Devyn," Jane informed her cousin.

"Figures," Devyn sighed. "Anything else that psycho mentioned?"

"He mentioned about your classes, how you bring up the Shakespeare stuff from your cases to see if your students get it."

"Huh…"

"What," Jane questioned curiously.

Devyn cleared her throat, "Only person who knows that I do that is Em." Jane then heard loud beeping in the background and Devyn cussing aloud, "Shit…"

"Devyn, what's happening?"

"Our only living victim is coding as we speak and it's not looking good. I'm going to see if he makes it, if he does, I'm driving down to BPD to talk to you," Devyn assured.

"Just be quick."

"I can do that."

The call then ended with Jane placing her phone down with a defeated expression. "This case is going cold fast," she commented quietly. She ran her hand over her face then felt a hand on her shoulder, giving it a light squeeze. She turned, knowing full well that it was Maura, trying to comfort her.

"You'll catch him," Maura assured her. Jane moved closer, not caring if anyone else was in the room, and pulled Maura into an intimate hug. Surprised by Jane's hug, Maura returned the hug then sneak a small kiss on Jane's neck.

"I thought you didn't guess," Jane commented.

Maura stepped back, "It's not a guess. It's a definite fact, Jane and I promise I'll be here as your best friend and…"

Noticing the pause, Jane glanced over her shoulder to see that Vince was still in the room, on the phone. She then looked back at Maura and completed her sentence, "And my girlfriend." Maura smiled which Jane returned until she heard her phone beep to notify her that she had a text message. She grabbed her phone and as she opened it, she looked back at Maura and said, "Thank you."

"Of course."

Jane then looked down at the text message to see that it was Devyn.

He's stable and I'm on my way to you. ETA 20 mins and I'll handle the idiot FBI.

"Korsak," Jane called out, prompting Korsak to look at her. "Get ready for round two, Devyn's coming to BPD."

R&I

Jane sat her desk, starring at her computer when a coffee appeared on her desk. She looked up to see her cousin who took a seat in the chair by her desk. "It's still the same order you had, right," Devyn inquired.

"Black, two sugars."

Devyn chuckled, "Yup, you still drink sludge."

"Ass," Jane remarked as she sipped her coffee. She placed the cup down and asked, "So did you find our connection yet?"

"Nothing. Anything on your end?"

"Nothing…" Devyn sighed and leaned back in her chair, taking a sip of coffee before Jane asked, "Where did you go after you left my…I mean, Maura's house?" Devyn gave a 'really' expression and Jane raised her hands in defense and said, "I'm trying to save your ass cause Dean's out for someone's."

"Mainly mine since we got no suspects," Devyn retorted as she looked up at the murder board. "Also to answer your question, I went home and slept for a couple of hours then went to the hospital with my laptop," she gestured toward her satchel.

"Why did you go to the hospital?"

"Hoping your victim would wake up and I can give you a call. Also I began to go through the notes, seeing if I can find links by doing Internet searches on the victims. So far, I got a load of garbage."

Jane pressed her lips together and looked up at the murder board like her cousin. She looked at all the crime scene photos until she noticed something. She stood up from her chair and approached the board, prompting Devyn to stand as well. "Do you see something," Devyn inquired.

"Yeah, but give me a second."

The Italian's eyes darted around the board and found the coincidence multiple times. She grabbed a pen off her desk and circled a man in dark brown hoodie. "Who is this," Jane pointed out in multiple pictures.

Devyn stepped forward, observing each of the photos. "You might need to have Frost zoom in on one of pictures and run it through AFIS," Devyn suggested. She then took a second take of the photos before her jaw clenched.

Jane noticed and asked, "You know him?"

"He looks like a student that I have debates with in my class."

"Name?"

"William Baptist."

"Ah, Professor D'Angelo, nice of you to join us," the two turned to see Agent Dean entering the bullpen with Cavanaugh.

Devyn sighed, "Before we start interrogating me, you just got a possible break in the case and…"

"Devyn," her eyes darted to see Emily entering the room with a concerned expression on her face.

"Emily," she approached and hugged her girlfriend then questioned, "what's going on?"

"We arrived at your apartment to find an envelope on your door," the agent lifted the envelope in the evidence bag. Devyn took the evidence bag and began to read it before her face contorted from worry to pure anger. "Where were you by chance," Dean questioned.

Jane reacted immediately as Devyn tossed the evidence bag behind her and moved Emily aside. About to lunge at Dean, Jane grabbed Devyn's arm, pulling her back and whispered in her ear, "Don't lose it. You're innocent."

Devyn took in a deep breath and replied, "I was at the hospital to see if your only living victim was awake. He's still critical but I came here and I know for a fact that the envelope was not on my door when I left."

"So what he's trying to say," Dean questioned.

"Jane can tell you."

Jane looked at her cousin in confusion but lifted the evidence bag off her desk. " 'Hello Devyn, long time, no see. I've told you years ago that you couldn't stop me and you didn't. Now I'm back and I know where you live and where your loved ones live. Get back in the game, dear Devil. Why should I play Roman fool, and die/ On mine own sword? whiles I see lives, the gashes/ Do better upon them...'." She placed the note down and looked over at Devyn then at Dean, "She's being called out."

"Jane," the detective turned her head to see Maura.

"What's up, Maura?"

The doctor walked across the room and handed a red folder. "Until I have the rest of the body, I can't determine the cause of death," Maura informed the detective.

Jane sighed and placed the folder down with the photo of the head open for viewing. At the sight, Devyn stepped forward and picked it up before she literally fell back into the chair. "Devyn," Emily called out in worry as Devyn's hands shook. Emily looked down at the photo then gasped, "Oh my god."

"What," Jane questioned, trying to figure out what was happening. She looked down at the photo and asked, "Do you know him?"

Devyn looked up and replied, "It's Eric, Jane."

Jane glanced at the photo again then mumbled, "You mean…"

"My ex husband, Eric."

Finally! Got it! Some cliffhanger but I promise, I'll get more scenes with Jane and Maura. Just trying to make the pathway for the rest of the story LOL. Please review if you can! Thanks