A/N: Sorry for the delay! Just got off for summer break!

Disclaimer: Read Ch. 1

"All of my life I spent searching the words/ Of poets and saints and prophets and kings/ And now at the end all I know that I've learned/ Is that all that I know is I don't know a thing" – "Dust and Ashes" sung by Josh Groban from "Natasha, Pierre and the Great Comet of 1812"

Ch. 11: A Balance

The tires screeched and the sirens blared through the streets with Jane in the passengers' side as Frost driving and Frankie and Korsak sitting in the back. When they reached where the call came from, they noticed that it was an abandon house.

"Be ready," Korsak told them as they stepped out of the cruiser with their weapons drawn.

They nodded and walked up to the house carefully. Frankie approached the door, twisted the knob and pushed the door open slowly. As the door opened, Jane and the others entered slowly, preparing for anything. They began to clear the bottom floor, searching for any signs that the Bard was there.

As Jane cleared the hallway, she met up with the boys and they heard a low creaking sound above them. Jane placed her finger on her lips then gestured to the staircase on her left. Jane and Korsak took the front while Frankie and Frost had the back and as they ascended up the stairs, Jane can feel her nerves forming.

Why do I have a bad feeling about this, she pondered.

They heard another creak when they reached the second floor. As they reached the top of the staircase, they noticed that there was a long hallway, which had multiple doors on the side and one down the end of the hallway. What is going on, Jane wondered. This is way too easy.

Jane moved once more; a small step but it made a loud creek that echo throughout the second floor. At the sound, they heard another sound that they knew all too well, prompting Jane to shout, "GET DOWN!"

Everyone dropped to the ground as bullets shot through the door. They kept their heads low with Frost and Frankie crawling up to Jane and Korsak's knees so there was no crossfire. They began to shoot back with their guns until the bullets that came from behind the door halted. "He's out," Korsak shouted.

They went up the stairs quickly and charged for the door with Frost knocking it down. With their guns drawn, they saw the empty gun on the ground and the window open. "Damn it," Jane cussed as she u-turned, running down the staircase, went through the kitchen to the backdoor to see the suspect running. "Stop! BPD," Jane shouted loudly.

The suspect continued to run with Jane keeping up. She then looked over her shoulder to see Frankie and Frost who jumped out of the window in the foot pursuit as well. "We can't let him get away," Frost shouted.

"We won't!"

The suspect jumped over the fence line, prompting Jane to jump over the fence line. As she reached the other side, Jane noticed the suspect stopping in the middle of the road. Jane drew her gun and shouted at the hooded figure, "Hands up Bard!"

"Why, of course, Jane," they heard a medium high voice.

He raised his hands up in surrender, prompting Jane to look at Frost and Frankie in confusion. She walked slowly toward the Bard with her gun still in her hand. As she reached him, she placed the first cuff on one wrist then brought the arm behind his back. She did the same with the other while she pulled down his hood to reveal short dark brown hair. "You're under arrest for murder," Jane announced.

"Perfect," he retorted.

Jane turned him around, making them face each other. She gave a surprise expression for the Bard was very young for his appearance. He almost looked like a teenager, which caught Jane further off guard. "Who are you," she questioned.

"You'll see," he replied.

R&I

When the call came to Maura that they had someone who was at the location of the Bard's call, Devyn disappeared. Maura removed her heels, something she would never do especially with the unsanitary staircase but she raced up the stairs until she reached the homicide floor.

She entered the hallway to see Korsak, Frankie, and Nina standing in the bullpen. "Jane's in the interrogation room," Korsak informed the medical examiner

"Is she okay," Maura inquired.

Korsak nodded, "Dean is also on his way which doesn't give Jane enough time to find out if he's the Bard."

"I thought it was the Bard?"

"He claims it but Jane…she thinks opposite."

Maura glanced across the hallway to see the interrogation door wide open. She slipped her heels back onto her feet then walked over toward the interrogation room. As she peered inside to see Devyn gazing at the one way mirror, paying no mind to anyone around her. Maura entered the room and stood next to Devyn, with her eyesight toward the one-way window. Her jaw dropped slightly as she observed Jane sitting at the chair across from the suspect while Frost stood behind him.

However, that wasn't the part that surprised her thought, it was the fact that the suspect looked like William Baptist.

Exactly like him.

"Baptist has a twin," Maura commented softly.

"Duncan Baptist."

"Has he spoken yet?"

"Not a peep since he got here."

"Are you going to go in there?" Devyn crossed her arms over her chest and commented, "He can't be the Bard."

"Devyn…"

"He can't be. He's too young, Maura."

"It could be an apprentice," Maura retorted.

Devyn pressed her lips together then replied, "If it is, I'm going to find out." She then walked to the door that led to the other side of the mirror, opened the door and entered the room.

Jane looked over her shoulder to see Devyn, prompting her to stand up. She moved closer to her cousin and whispered, "You shouldn't be here."

"Key word: shouldn't but like I listen well."

"You're her," the young man stated. Jane turned around with a raised eyebrow as she resumed her seat across from him. He continued to stare at Devyn and continued, "After all the years, we meet finally." Devyn let out a low chuckle, prompting him to frown in anger, "Why do you laugh?"

She smirked and looked at Jane who recognized the expression immediately. Jane then returned her eyes toward the young man and pointed out, "You're not the Bard."

"Yes, I am," the young man retorted.

"I doubt that," Devyn expressed, taking a seat on the side of the table. "You are way too young to be the Bard. You would have been a child when the Bard started."

Jane then leaned in, "So, taking a good guess, you and your twin brother work for the Bard."

"I'll take a bigger guess as well," Devyn moved around and stood behind him. She leaned in and whispered in his ear, "You're the Bard's son along with your brother."

Duncan's eyes widened in pure surprise and even though she trained her expressions, Jane was surprise at this revelation as well.

"I'm not…"

"Uh huh. Sure, how does the name 'Rachel' relate to you?"

Duncan began to pale and he looked down at his hands. "I'm the Bard," he stated once more.

Devyn slammed her fist onto the desk, prompting him to jump and shouted, "DON'T FUCKIN LIE!"

Jane and Frost jumped back as well while Duncan stuttered as Devyn moved back around. Jane looked up at her cousin and she can only see pure rage that could burn through him. "I…. I…" Duncan stuttered then swallowed. He looked down at his hands and retorted, "I have nothing else to say. I want my lawyer."

Jane sighed, glaring at her cousin for she knew that Duncan wasn't going to spill the beans especially after Devyn scaring the shit out of him. Jane stood up from her chair and opened the door for Devyn and Frost to walk out. As she closed the door behind her, Jane looked at Devyn and stated in a low tone, "You had to do that."

"He's not the Bard."

"How do you explain how he was there?"

"That I'm not sure about but you need to bring William back in."

"So you can scare him," Jane questioned back.

Devyn sighed, "Look, I'll back off but I'm telling you that this isn't the Bard. You got more puzzle pieces than I did back."

"So you're sure that he's related to the Bard."

"He got quiet and I didn't make the connection until I thought about their names."

"Their names. That's what you going from," Frost commented.

"That and his reaction."

Jane sighed, "You yelled at him and scared the shit out of him."

Devyn crossed her arms over her chest and Jane rolled her eyes as she walked over to Maura. "I had Kent collect evidence from the residence," Maura informed her girlfriend.

"Thanks," Jane leaned in, kissing her cheek.

It caught Maura off guard but she welcomed it while Jane walked out of the interrogation room with Frost trailing behind with a surprise expression. Devyn walked pass Maura with a small smirk on her face then walked into the bullpen.

When they entered, Jane groaned internally for there was Agent Dean sitting in her chair. "Jane," he greeted.

"Get out of my chair," she ordered.

Dean stood up from the chair and stepped aside while Jane took it and sat down. "So I heard you found the Bard," Dean stated.

"We're not sure about that."

He gave a confused expression and retorted, "I got a call that you guys caught the Bard and now you're telling me that you don't have the Bard?"

"Relax, Dean. We got a lead."

"A lead is not enough, Jane," he shouted. He then walked toward the entryway of the bullpen and stated in a serious tone, "If you don't have the Bard in your custody by the end of the week then the FBI will take over whether you like it or not."

He then stormed off into the elevator and as the doors began to close, Jane looked over at Devyn who looked very annoyed and then her cousin raised her hand, flipping him off. Jane chuckled as Dean's expression changed from serious to purely insulted when the door closed, she then looked up at her cousin.

"Smooth."

Devyn shrugged then took a seat next to her cousin's desk. "So what now, cuz," she inquired.

"We start to connect the puzzle pieces."

"Maura," the medical examiner heard. She looked up from her laptop to see Jane walking down the hallway then entered the office. "Anything yet," the detective asked as she closed the door.

"Actually, I was going over the contents that was discovered at the house where you captured Duncan Baptist."

"Alright and anything yet?"

"So far no but he seemed to have a lot of items like his twin brother," Maura indicate, gesturing to the many pages in the file. Jane sighed, prompting Maura to place a bookmark on the page, stand up and walked over to the detective. "We'll catch him," she assured.

Jane nodded in agreement, "I know that but I just don't like the fact that he keeps getting ahead of us."

"You're catching up to him."

"Yeah but then we lose the lead. I get why this drove Devyn…it's so close in my hands then they slipped away. I feel like I'm letting Dev down," Jane commented.

Maura raised her hand up to Jane's cheek, running her thumb along the skin. She then leaned up and kissed Jane gently who gripped her hips tightly, pulling her closer. Jane then loosened her grip and pressed her forehead against Maura's.

"I have full confidence in you, Jane. Devyn believes in you, I see it in her eyes."

"Thanks, Maura," Jane said in appreciation.

"Of course," she whispered, kissing Jane once more.

They then heard a knock at the door and looked over to see Susie. "Sup Chang," Jane greeted as she backed away from Maura a little bit.

Susie gave a small smile and greeted back, "Sup Rizzoli."

"What can I do for you, Susie," Maura inquired, noticing a folder in Susie's hand.

"You wanted me to report to you if I found something," Susie answered as she handed the file to Maura, holding an evidence bag. "You mentioned that if we find the name 'Rachel' to let you know. We found the name among the piles."

Maura pulled out of the evidence bag to see a young woman's photo with dark brown hair and light blue eyes with a charming smile. She flipped it over to see the name 'Rachel' on the back of the picture with the number '89 on it. "So this is Rachel," Jane looked down at the photo.

Maura nodded then handed it back to Susie. "Make sure Nina puts this through the facial recognition system. Hopefully, we find something with this photo," Maura stated.

Susie nodded and walked toward the elevator, leaving Jane and Maura once more alone. "I should get going," Jane informed Maura softly.

"Yes and I will continue here."

"Hopefully, this Rachel is the lead we need."

"Hopefully."

Jane then leaned in, kissing Maura's cheek before she backed out of the office and into the elevator with Chang.

Eight years ago…

"Devyn, I brought food," Emily announced. When Devyn didn't reply, she peered inside to see Devyn sitting on the sofa with several boxes in front of her. Her eyes widened at the sight then she commented softly, "I thought we unpacked everything."

"We did," Devyn retorted. She then placed her hand on one of the boxes in front of her and looked up at Emily. "Just put these away somewhere and lock it up. I don't need to see them anymore."

Her girlfriend gave a confused expression at these words and approached one of the boxes. She opened it up and peered inside before she closed it. "Are you sure," she asked.

Devyn nodded, "A new beginning for myself…and us."

"Devyn," she closed the small box in her hand, placing it in her satchel then turned her head to see Jane entering the bullpen while Susie went the other direction.

"What's up," her cousin asked.

Jane sat down at her desk and retorted, "We got something!" Her ears perked at these words as Jane continued, "The name 'Rachel,' we found her."

"Are you sure?"

She nodded, "It was in one of the twin's piles. If we keep looking, it will pop up in another twin's pile." Jane leaned over and took her cousin's hand, "We got a lead. We got something, Dev. This is good."

"Yeah…real good."

Noticing the distracted expression in her cousin's eyes, Jane retracted her hand and asked, "You okay?"

"Just…I hope it pans out…"

"You're nervous."

"Nervous is not the word. Anxious, angry…. hell-bent," she retorted, standing up from her chair. She walked around the desk then asked, "How long do you think it will take for facial recognition to pop up?"

"A bit," Jane answered. "However, I think we should follow the Bard being the twins' father lead that you brought up."

Devyn smirked, "So you think I'm right?"

"Don't let your head swell, Devyn."

Her cousin rolled her eyes and asked, "So how are you going to discover the twins' parentage?"

Jane stood up from her chair then opened her drawer for her gun. "Devyn, have you forgotten your old tricks," Jane inquired back before walking out of the bullpen. Devyn stood there in confusion, trying to piece what her cousin meant until Jane shouted, "Devyn! Get your ass moving!"

R&I

"Really? City Hall," Devyn commented as they entered the building.

"Birth certificate records."

"Obviously but what happens if my theory is kit caboodle," Devyn questioned back in a hush tone as they went through the security screening.

Jane looked back at Devyn with a raised eyebrow as she placed her gun back into her holster. "You really doubt your own theory," Jane inquired.

"No," Devyn answered assuredly but she noticed immediately that Jane wasn't having it. "Okay, I doubt it a little bit due to some…issues."

"Like?"

"What if they are adopted?"

"Dev, we can find the paperwork if that's the case."

"Sealed docs." Suddenly, Jane stopped in the middle of the hall, looked at her cousin then smacked the back of her head. "Ow," Devyn yelped at the hit. She rubbed the back of her head while Jane resumed walking while Devyn walked after her, "What was that for?"

"You need to get your mojo back," Jane commented.

Devyn frowned, "I do have my mojo! I did the theory!"

"Then stop spitting your mojo in the eye and actually run with your theory. I didn't look up to you because you doubted yourself." Jane reached the front desk then looked over to see Devyn with a somewhat surprised expression. "What," Jane questioned.

Devyn shook her head then looked at the receptionist who had a displeased expression on her face.

"I have a feeling that this might take a bit," Jane whispered.

"Maybe not," Devyn then cracked her knuckles. She then leaned in and smiled, "Hello good lady."

"What do you want," the receptionist snapped back, not bothering to look up from her computer.

Devyn sighed and looked at Jane, repeating, "This might take a bit."

For an hour, Jane and Devyn tried everything to ask if she could look up the names but she wasn't in the mood. Eventually, Devyn was fed up and suggested in frustration, "Look, can you just let us in the archives so we can go through it ourselves since you don't wish to get up from your chair."

Jane's eyes widened at the comment and the receptionist's jaw tightened. Realizing what she said, Devyn bit her lip and looked at Jane with a nervous smile until finally, the receptionist stood up from her chair. "Follow me," she ordered, making Jane and Devyn follow in the back room.

"Here you go," the receptionist stated to them. She then turned and walked pass Jane and Devyn, who she bumped in the shoulder.

The professor cringed, rubbing her shoulders as Jane looked down at the many rows of books. "Nice job," Jane commented.

"What? We tried being nice, might as well suggest that we do something."

"So what's your idea, Professor D'Angelo?"

"Well Detective Rizzoli, William Baptist is about twenty two so let's go back twenty two years ago and go from there. Also call your girlfriend, we might need reinforcements."

Jane watched as her cousin placed her glasses and began to walk down an aisle while she removed her blazer. She then took out her cell phone and began to dial it until Maura answered, "Hello Jane."

"Hey Maura, want to get out of the office for a bit," Jane inquired.

"What do you have in mind," Maura asked coyly.

Jane blushed, "Unfortunately, nothing really romantic about coming to City Hall to look at birth certificates. Also my cousin is here."

Maura giggled and replied, "I can be there in a bit with some company."

Jane made a confused expression then was about to speak until she realized that Maura ended the call. She pulled back her phone and placed it in her pocket, announcing to her cousin, "Maura's coming!"

"Alright! Now help me with these files," Devyn shouted down the aisle.

Several files later, Jane slouched in her chair and sighed, "I have a headache."

"Same," Devyn retorted as she removed her glasses, placing a file down in the 'nothing much' pile.

"I hate this part of police work."

"I definitely don't miss it. Reminds me of all my Shakespeare reading."

Jane looked at her cousin. "I thought you like the words despite it being used as a tool of murder?"

"I do but sometimes, I wondered if I learned anything. I used to stare at pages and wonder what I did wrong even after I resigned." Devyn then rubbed her eyes tiredly before she looked at Jane and asked, "How do you do it, Jane?"

"Do what?"

"Balance work and love…"

Jane sat up and gave a curious look at her cousin. "Was that what you were thinking about when we were at BPD," she asked softly.

"A bit..." Devyn looked down at the files briefly then looked back at Jane, "A while back, I promised Emily that I wanted to start a new life for myself and for us as a couple. I thought I was away from this so I can start over but I feel like I've been dragged back in. I don't think Emily realized how deep the rabbit hole goes and I feel like I'm risking her safety. I think about it now since my ex-husband's body showed up."

"You're not thinking about breaking up with Emily, are you," Jane questioned.

"Absolutely not," Devyn denied.

"Then why are you worrying about that?"

"How do you make it work with Maura, Jane," Devyn ignored Jane's question.

Jane shrugged and answered, "When we were friends, she and I had this connection. We saw something in each other, I guess. She doesn't nag me about the job like Ma, she makes me feel special and I didn't realize I had something valuable until now. I would try to push her away to protect her but she kept coming back."

"She seems like someone to do that."

"I'm grateful that she does that. But, she's my better half, Dev and I make the effort to make the balance."

"An effort…"

"Jane," they heard.

"Over here," Jane shouted; she then looked back at Devyn and continued, "I love this job but I will tell you now that if I had to choose between the job or Maura, she's my choice."

"That's a big for you," Devyn commented.

Jane nodded in agreement. "I love her, Dev," she confessed softly.

Devyn smiled, "I know and you should tell her."

They then turned their heads at the sound of heels clicking until Maura emerged from one of the aisles with coffee in her hand. Jane smiled and walked over while Devyn leaned back in her chair, watching her cousin hug and kiss her girlfriend.

"Don't you look charming," was whisper against Devyn's ear, causing her to turn her head to see Emily in her casual clothes.

"What are you doing here," Devyn inquired as she stood up and hugged her girlfriend.

"Maura said that you two were stuck here and asked if I like to join, make sure you're not feeling third-wheelish," Emily answered.

Devyn glanced over at Jane who was gazing at Maura. She then looked back at Emily and kissed her forehead, "Thank you."

"Always."

While Devyn and Emily hugged, Maura looked up to see Jane gazing at her. "Is something on my face," Maura inquired softly. Jane shook her head and kissed her lips once more, surprising Maura slightly but it was not unwelcomed.

"Come on, lovebirds," Jane heard, pulling back to see Devyn going toward the aisle. "We got work to do."

Review please and if you haven't, check out my new R&I story "Beauty and the Beast"