A/N: reinserted a missing piece that has been perfected. The origin of Bad Ass Jane is here, be aware that it is dark and it does end up being pivotal.

To Z and MJ: Keep me honest.

"Shot's fired! Shot's fired! Officer down! Officer down! Plain clothed detectives need assistance, Commercial Street and (Static)."

Jane leaned against the stamping press she had taken cover behind and shook out her hand. The radio she had just been holding had been shattered by a lucky shot that had bounced off the steel side of a parts dumpster.

She immediately crouched down and raised her weapon to return fire. Two shots later, she was pulling back into cover, looking for her partner.

Kate was across the aisle way hiding behind a mechanic's tool box. Jane was relieved. She had heard the shot and saw her partner go down while she had dove for the biggest object she could find. Kate must have rolled the other way to the small but tall tool chest she was now leaning against and she was now sitting up, clutching her stomach. The thin sheet metal wasn't much for cover.

Jane called out, "You okay?"

Kate shook her head, "Vest slowed it but it penetrated."

"Shit!" Jane shouted, "Tell me!"

"Radio's busted," Kate stared at her partner, I need an ambulance.

Jane paled at the message, she couldn't lose Kate. Jane Rizzoli stared back, "Kate, you hang on."

More bullets passed through the aisle of the industrial warehouse they had chased their murder suspect, Nate Murphy down to. Jane stared in horror as Kate picked up her weapon and struggled to turn around. "Get out of here, Jane. No matter what happens you get out of this alive."

"No!" she shouted as Kate swung around and fired three shots at the gunman. Who promptly returned fire. Kate ducked back just barely in time. Shrapnel from the light steel box cut her cheek as bullets slammed into the side.

Jane's heart was in turmoil as she returned fire and received a response in kind. She looked at her partner who was wiping the blood from her cheek. Kate turned her head to her and their eyes locked.

As she stared into those worried eyes, Kate would swear to her dying day that she had seen Jane's soul. Kate's pushed all her love, trust, and friendship into that brief connection with her partner and Jane felt the weight lift from her heart for the first time since Boston.

My life for my partners, no regrets. Kate nodded, "That was the deal we made at LETO, Jane. I'll distract him, you get out of here."

At her words, that place deep inside her that she was so horrified of came back to life. It had been gone for so long and just like that, it was back and ready to be used again for its terrible purpose. But with its return, came all of Jane's strength, her will to act, to live. She turned to her partner allowing all of her fears into her face as Kate pushed it all at her.

She had felt the sincerity of Kate's words and the commitment behind them. She knew in that instant that coming to New York was the right choice even if how or why she did it was wrong. She knew that that awful place inside her had a purpose too. Jane was eternally grateful to have this woman who would willingly give her life for her, not out of duty or obligation, but out of friendship and love. Kate intended to sacrifice herself so Jane could escape and it had awakened her soul again.

Jane could do no less for her. Before Kate could get up, Jane had rallied her much missed strength and bolted around the machine and was running down the far side of the warehouse.

Kate gaped as she realized Jane was running towards the gunman. She cursed and rose unsteadily to her feet and took aim to cover Jane.

"Fucking crazy bitch!" she shouted. Shots exploded around Jane and she dove to the ground, sliding under a conveyer belt before she rolled to her feet and took off again. Kate fired several rounds in the area where the shots had come from causing her to lose sight of Jane. She reloaded then looked down the long aisle. She heard no more shots. The clunking of Jane's boots had stopped too.

As she peered around the box to gage the situation she sensed a presence behind her an instant before the hot barrel of a pistol was jammed into the back of her head. She froze.

"Shouldn't be out here all alone, little girl." A deep throaty voice said into her ear, "You just couldn't leave her a Jane Doe, could you? You made me worry over her." She felt his grip tighten around the trigger through the pistol.

Kate braced herself for death and prayed Jane made I out if this. At least there would be one good thing. She'd have to turn to Maura.

A flicker of movement at the edge of her vision caught her attention, it was only for the briefest of seconds but she knew. She knew something she hadn't known before.

"She's not the Jane you need to be worried about." She smiled and closed her eyes, "I'll see you in hell, Murphy." She pinched her mouth closed and held her breath, waiting for the shot.

The back of his head exploded as a .45 caliber round went through his skull, sucking in the air violently through the neat hole it had created. The rapid induction of air had caused his brain matter to rapidly evacuate his head through the large gap created by the now mushroomed shaped bullet's exit.

Kate felt a slap of hot, sticky liquid along the side of her face and shoulder before the thump of a body hitting the floor filled the silence.

Their suspect, Nathaniel James Murphy was dead. He was killed by Detective Jane Rizzoli to save the life of her partner, Detective Sergeant Katherine Beckett. That was what the official report would say.

But in that instant before the bullet was fired, Kate learned the same horrific truth Maura did the night Charles Hoyt had cut her throat.

Jane would not only die to save the people she loved, she would kill for the same reason without regret or hesitation. This was the woman who shot herself in the stomach to save her brother's life. The officer who had ended the life a serial killer who was going to brutally rape and murder her and her love, Her partner who now coldly took a man's life to save Kate's.

Katherine Houghton Beckett was family too.

She would swear Jane's eyes were black as night when she stepped into view from the side. It was a side of Jane that Kate had never seen before and it honestly scared her. Kate had killed in the line of duty before but she had never looked like Jane did right now. Jane's face was as if it had been carved of stone, and her eyes were stone cold, it was the look of a lethal predator. Kate had never seen anything like Jane in that moment.

Jane had approached slowly to verify what she had done, her Glock 37 still in hand was in a ready position. She lowered it as she took in the sight of Murphy's grey matter and blood spreading across the floor. Jane turned to check out Kate, blood had splattered all over the side of her partner's face and clothing.

The sight took Jane out of that dark place and she grabbed Kate by the shoulders, "C'mon, partner. Let's get you out of here."

Kate blinked at how quickly that coldness just flashed out of Jane's face. Her partner's voice was calm and collected as she led her out of the warehouse.

As they reached the door, sirens were sounding in the distance as police, fire, and EMT's raced to the officer down call Jane had barely gotten out.

"What you did in there scared me a little," Kate stopped her outside, "So I need to know, Jane."

Jane turned to look at her.

"When it happens? Do you feel anything?"

Jane blinked at the question. She knew what Kate was asking, what no one else besides Maura knew about and she had been too afraid of it to ask. "Regret."

Her answer surprised her, "Why regret?"

"That it came down to that point." Jane sighed heavily and helped Kate to sit on the steps, "That no matter what happened he had to die. I regret being the one who had to choose. "

She knelt down in front of her, "And who the hell are you calling a fucking crazy bitch!?"

Kate laughed, than groaned as Jane gently peeled away her vest to check the wound.

"If the shoe fits…" she said.

Mt. Sinai Hospital, Manhattan

After IAD detectives had left Kate's hospital room, Jane brought her some ice chips and plopped down on the doctor's stool next to her partner's bed. Kate's bullet had landed in her abdomen near the same place Jane had blown a hole in herself to save her brother. But Kate's had not passed through, just ripped skin and muscles before lodging itself between her kidney and liver.

"I put Ryan on the door so we get some warning." She sighed, "But before we begin I need you to understand some things."

"Okay." Her partner reassured her.

"First thing is that I've never talked about this Kate, ever, and I need you to promise me that you won't say anything either. No one else but Maura, and now you, knows this about me and you can't tell anyone." She watched her partner closely, "Promise me."

"I promise, Jane." Kate reached for Jane's hand but she pulled away, "You've never talked to Maura about it?"

"Maura wouldn't ask about it, I don't know if she was waiting for me or if she was afraid to ask."

"What else should I know?"

Jane got up and paced around the room, "When it happens, it's fast and I… I can see my anger or desperation fuelling it but the only thing I can really feel is regret that it came to this. I'm in control and operating with a clear head and I know what I have to do but I regret having to do it and I mourn the life taken in that instant. But once it's gone, it takes that sense of loss with it but the regret never really goes away."

She stopped near the window to look out onto the city, "I know it only lasts a few seconds but when I'm in there, in that state, it's like a lifetime. I can see every outcome, every possibility with clarity, and I have all the time in the world to act." She hesitated, "and no time at all because at the same time it's fast, so fast."

"Damn, I wish I could do that."

Jane shook her head violently, "No, Kate, you don't. It's a terrible thing to carry. You don't know. You can't know what it's like. I don't want to have it. It scares the shit out of me." She returned to the stool and took Kate's hand, "I wish it would go away and leave me." Her voice was level but sadness had crept in anyway.

Kate grabbed her friend with both hands, "Jane. It's okay."

"No it's NOT!" Jane pushed Kate away gently, "I got this thing when Hoyt gave me these," She held up her hands, "It's not some divine gift. It was made from the pain. It came to life when my partner pulled the scalpels out of my hands. He saw it, I know he did but he doesn't know what it was or what it can do. He still doesn't know that it's part of me!"

Jane rubbed at her hands again and Kate was beginning to understand the movements.

"It's always there and I can feel it, like a cold spot you can never get to go away. I don't worry about it getting loose because after the first time, I have to… sort of… reach for it." Jane stared at her partner with fearful eyes. "And I have, Kate."

Kate sat up a little. "How many times have you used it, Jane?" She asked and put a hand on Jane's shoulder.

"Three." She said and sniffled, "The first time was to save Frankie. It came over me, I didn't go for it, Kate, I didn't. But when I heard Bobby say Frankie was probably already dead, it came out. I didn't reach for it. I screamed as it came out, I was terrified of what was happening. I saw the whole thing in slow motion, what it was and how it came to be and by the time the gun was in my stomach I knew what I had to do with it. I pulled that trigger to save Frankie's life, and end Bobby's." Her voice came to a whisper, "and mine."

Kate stared at her partner. She had no idea that Jane had wanted to die at that moment. "No, it's not right. Jane, tell me you didn't want to."

She hung her head, "I did, I wanted to die in that moment because it scared the hell out of me."

"Do you still feel that way," Kate asked. She was Jane's partner, she needed to know this.

"Not really." She looked up at Kate, "It still scares me and I want it gone but I kind of came to terms with it while I was recovering. It was Maura that made me want to live. She fussed over me and wouldn't leave my side the entire time I was in the hospital. She was more scared that I wouldn't make it than I was of it, I think. In fact, she told me when I was all drugged out that she needed me and that I couldn't die after showing her love and friendship. I think that was when it started, really started."

"Your feelings for her?"

"Yeah," she said, "Our friendship started after Hoyt, back when I got out of the hospital with my hands wrapped, I wasn't very pleasant but she and I had been closely working with each other and had formed a close working relationship. I kept pushing her away but she wouldn't give up, she just kept coming over and taking care of me. I was trying to deal with Hoyt and this new thing festering inside me like poison, she made it better and she doesn't even know it because for her I swore to myself that I wouldn't ever let myself become that thing inside me."

"Hoyt," Jane cursed, "He gave me this thing and I wish like hell I could give it back. And the worst part is that he made sure I never could."

Kate was mesmerized by Jane's story. "What do you mean he made sure?"

"The first time he escaped, he teamed up with an apprentice and they tazed me and drug me out to the woods to have their fun before killing me. I got the upper hand and killed Stark without it but that woke it up. I turned away from it because I was afraid that it would turn me into him. It wouldn't go away until I gave him back these scars, but when he had Maura in the hospital, I deliberately reached for it."

She rested her head in her hands; her tears flowed silently down her cheeks. "He already cut me, in front of Maura. He cut my neck, then he tazed her. His partner made me watch while he cut her too. That was the first time I reached for it and it came out. I took out the guard and fought with Hoyt until I got the scalpel away. I was over top of him, I had him, and I used it to kill him with his own tool. When it left me again, I realized what had happened, what I had done. Not to Hoyt, I was relieved that was over.

"I realized that I had given it permanent refuge. I wasn't sorry Hoyt was dead but I was afraid because it had settled into a very deep dark part of my soul. Always there, always watching, waiting for me to reach for it. Everybody thought I was upset over the event but it wasn't Hoyt. I couldn't believe what I had allowed into me, forever."

Jane stood up and leaned over Kate, her face just inches away, to make sure her partner got exactly what she was saying, "I want to give it back more than anything but killing him ensured that I could never be rid of it! After Maura left, I thought I had buried it until you told me to leave, 'My life for my partner's with no regrets.' I know we said it but I couldn't let you die and it woke up again, I couldn't let you kill yourself so I tried to get him. I tried to get him before he got to you, and when I seen him with that gun to your head, I reached for it again. "

Jane's tears started again. Kate thought she might fall apart again. Until Jane took and uneasy breath and like so many times before Jane had come to New York, her face schooled and she took a deep steady breath for calmness before sitting down again.

"It's a terrible thing to know you have it. Killing in the line of duty is one thing, we take comfort in the fact that we did what we should have, that all the steps were taken and lives were saved. It's not like that Kate. I know that I saved Frankie, Maura, and now you, but it still scares me."

Kate studied Jane for a while as she sat. She was worried about Jane now. Worried that Jane was struggling with a part of herself that was beyond dangerous, it was lethal. Jane could kill without doubt or hesitation, without feeling or remorse but she used it to save lives and that spoke volumes about Jane's character.

But she does feel remorse. Kate latched on to that thought with everything she had. True that when she did this she felt no loss at the life but Jane regrets having to take it. Kate had read Jane's file from Boston and it wasn't all that different from the details Jane had just told her, just the context had changed, just how Jane had felt was different. Both times her actions had been reviewed and stamped with BPD approval. Kate thought about how she would react in her position. And no matter how she turned it over, she would have done the same as Jane had.

She watched Jane as she began pacing again. It wasn't the timid pacing Jane often did around the penthouse. It was a predatory lope, exactly like the one she used to have before her heart was shattered. Kate watched for other differences. Jane's shoulders were lose and uncoiled, her face no longer tight with sadness and pain. Her very posture was confident despite all that she had revealed. There were signs that she was unsure of how her partner would take her secrets but she wasn't cowering like she used to. Jane was more like her old self than Kate had ever seen in the last few months. Whatever it was, it had seemed to return the Jane Rizzoli Kate had befriended years ago.

"Jane," Kate said slowly, "I'd deny everything your saying but I've seen it in you myself. I can't ignore that."

Jane stopped to stare at her and her eyes filled with fear.

"But you've had this for as long as I've known you." Kate looked at her with trust and admiration, "You said that it woke up when I was willing to die for you."

She nodded.

"Ever since that moment, the friend that I lost, that I was honestly worried that I'd never get back, did come back. I'm not going to pretend that I know anything about it or what you are feeling or that it doesn't scare me too. But I want to help you. You saved my ass today and if I can help you make peace with this thing again. I'll do whatever I can."

Jane stared at her, looking for any deception and finding only trust and love. Jane came to her side then and took Kate's hand into hers.

"Thanks, partner." She said as a single tear ran down her cheek, "I don't know what I'd do if I didn't have you."

Kate squeezed Jane's hand tightly, "That's what family is for."

There was a knock on the door and Ryan and Esposito came in bearing flowers. Jane quickly pushed her emotions down and hid behind her usual shield of attitude and sarcasm.

"You brought flowers? Really? You want to make her feel better you should have brought food."

Kate nodded, "The hospital food sucks."

They smiled as Esposito held up a small paper bag that looked greasy.

Jane smirked, "Now were talking."

A few days later,

Kate took in a deep breath and held it while Dr. Tenshi Isogi held his stethoscope to her back near her lungs.

"And out please." He said, his voice holding only the slightest hint of his Japanese ancestry.

Kate let her breath go smoothly. She shivered at the cold air that kissed her bare skin due to the open back of the surgical gown. She turned her head to look at her partner. Jane bit her lip nervously as she watched the surgeon who had removed the bullet from Kate's abdomen.

Nathaniel Murphy's shot had penetrated into Kate at nearly the same place as Jane's scar on her stomach. But since Kate had been wearing her Kevlar vest at the time and the distance was far greater than Jane's incident with Bobby Marino, the bullet had only passed through her muscles, barely, and luckily caused no real damage to her internal organs.

Kate had been blessed, a fact not lost on either of them.

"Have you been experiencing any pain?" he asked.

"Yeah," she said, "Tends to happen when you get shot."

Dr. Isogi laughed, "I imagine so, but of course I was referring to anything different from my last visit."

"No, just the aches and soreness, some sharp pain if I flex or turn the wrong way."

He nodded as he walked around the bed Kate was sitting on, "could you please lift up your gown so I can see the wound.

Kate arched an eyebrow at Jane and smirked before she complied. As Dr. Isogi pulled the gauze pad away Jane rolled her eyes and looked at the puckered red mark that marked the bullet's passage. Black stich work held it closed and it was clearly healing well. Dr. Isogi pressed two gloved fingers to the edge of the wound and nodded again.

"Al right Miss Beckett." He said as he reapplied the gauze and stood up. "I believe that your injury is healing sufficiently to release you but no strenuous activities or gun fights. The abdomen is a highly flexible area and you risk tearing your sutures out with even the most basic of task so be careful."

He turned to wave a hand at Jane, "I am sure that your partner would be happy to come over and assist you should you need it."

Jane snorted loudly, "Yeah, just give me a call and I'll just drive right over."

Dr. Isogi eyed her, "I don't believe you understand how painful this kind of wound can be Miss Rizzoli."

Kate laughed then clutched her side with a slight groan, "You'd lose that bet, doc." She nodded to her friend.

Jane turned to her side and pulled up her shirt enough to reveal the entry and exit scars over her right hip, "I think I might know something about it."

Dr. Isogi sucked in a sharp breath, "I would say so. He stared at the large patch of rough skin on Jane's back for an uncomfortable second, "Large caliber, close range. How far away was the shooter?"

Jane dropped her shirt. "The gun was touching when it was fired."

Isogi's eyes went wide, but something about Jane's look and the tone in his voice told him to drop it. He nodded before, "Then if your partner needs you, I expect you to be there."

"Jane lives with me and my boyfriend, doc." Kate said, "She was joking about driving over."

"Ah. He said, "Sorry. I'm afraid I am not very good at understanding sarcasm."

"Speaking of boyfriends," Jane snarled, "Why the hell isn't Rick here yet? I mean you've been shot for god's sake."

"It's because of the snow storm up there. Rick's flight was delayed." Kate said as the Doctor collected his things to leave, "He'll be home tonight or tomorrow."

"A book signing in Seattle," Jane started pacing again. "I want to shoot that ex-wife slash publisher of his."

Kate snorted, "Sorry to disappoint, but I have dibs on that."

With the conversation turning to gunplay and ex-wives, Dr. Isogi made a quiet getaway to finish Kate's release forms while Jane went on a tirade. The door latch clicking in place was the only sound that marked his exit. Jane stopped and grinned at the sound, "Told you," she smirked.

"Yeah, you did. I'll pay up when I get home." Kate chuckled.

"So when does Alexis come home from that field trip?" Jane asked.

"Friday." Kate said, "Though I'm not looking forward to telling her I was shot again." She instinctively touched the old scar near her heart. "She's going to be all over me, this time. I guarantee you that she'll be worse than all of the stories you told me of Angela combined."

"Yeah but that's because she loves you." There was a hint of understanding and regret in her voice.

"Hey now, she adores you, you know that." Kate said, "Her Aunt Jane, who's so funny."

Jane laughed at the conversations she's had with the sharp redhead who was in every way the exact opposite of her father, "I like the kid. She's so smart it's like talking to…" Jane froze at her slip. She hadn't meant that to come out.

Shame filled her as she thought about the beautiful Alexis Castle who was the one she had drawn on when she had been missing Maura unbearably. It was something Jane hadn't meant for anyone to know. Alexis was young and impressionable and was far too precious to know that Jane had leaned on her when she needed some serious google mouth.

"Like talking to the other genius you know?" Kate said as she pulled off the hospital gown. "We all know that and so does Alexis. Why do you think she comes to you more than anyone else about all that advanced scientific stuff she's learning? She wants to help and she knows that you take comfort in her technical babble about stuff that's way over all of our heads." She slipped on her bra and t-shirt as she spoke.

And just like that, Jane's illusion of secrecy was dispelled. She looked sheepish, "Jesus. I didn't think anyone knew, especially Alexis."

As she slipped on her pants she playfully glared at Jane, "Hello, the girl has a hundred IQ points on any of us. She's the one who figured it out and told us how it was making a difference. Rick and I agreed that you were doing a lot better since you started helping her with her homework."

"Help." Jane scoffed as she plopped down in the chair against the wall, "She leaves me behind right after the words 'Question One'. I couldn't understand any of it no matter what subject, even when she took that ballistics quiz. I'm a cop for cripes sake, and it was all geek greek to me."

Kate smiled as she slipped her boots over her socks. "Yeah, me too, but it got you out of your room. So I asked her to google you to death whenever you needed it."

Jane smiled at her friend. She hadn't passed judgment on her, in fact quite the opposite. Kate had urged Alexis to wow Jane with her intelligence. Jane realized something about the Castles and Beckett. They were family and healing Jane had been a family affair. Ordinarily Jane would be indignant over this but from somewhere deep inside, she felt loved. A family that she wasn't born in to had taken her in anyway and loved, and healed her.

I know now, she thought, Maura, I know no how you felt about us Rizzoli's. The thought brought home the sadness Maura must have every day she was gone from Boston.

Kate got up slowly, finally dressed, and grabbed her partner's hand, "C'mon. Let's go find Isogi so we can go home."

Jane nodded and stood up.

It only took a few minutes to find Dr. Isogi who had Kate sign her name three separate times before handing her the discharge papers and walking them to the elevator. They tried to put her in a wheel chair but Kate had promptly said her partner was still armed and the nurse backed away with the chair in tow.

Just before they got to the lobby, Jane froze. Kate paused to look at her.

Jane had her nose turned up and was inhaling gently. Her eyes opened wide as her gaze dropped and Kate could see her searching the faces around them.

"What?"

It was only a hint. A vague whiff of a perfume and shampoo she knew so well. It was so brief Jane wasn't even sure if she had really inhaled it. As she glanced from face to face, searching for hazel eyes and honey blond hair, her heart clenched tight. But after a few seconds she had gotten nowhere, she breathed out and let it go, her heart aching in protest but complying.

Did I really smell her? Jane shook her head, No. she wouldn't be here. Your being stupid Rizzoli

Nice to know her inner monologue was back in full swing too.

She glanced at her partner who was sending her a message when their eyes met briefly.

What is it? Kate sent. She looked around with Jane.

"It's nothing," she said, "Just my imagination getting away from me."

Jane started waking to the door where her cruiser was parked, Kate watched her partner, unsure of what just happened but it had thrown Jane for a second and she had gone ridged too.

Kate shook her head and followed her partner. If Jane had said it was nothing than she believed her.

Rick paced nervously outside of the briefing room at the 12th while Kate and Jane were inside. It was Jane's first shooting board in the NYPD.

He had run right over to the station after his plane had landed at Kennedy and had been told that Kate and Jane were in the shooting board by Kevin Ryan.

Knowing better than to interrupt a very private procedure the NYPD conducted on all death shootings Rick had been tearing up the cheap carpeting outside the room where such procedures were performed.

Kate had come out first and Rick had wrapped her up in his arms and kissed her, passionately in front of half of the precinct.

"I was so worried about you." He said into her ear as he embraced her tightly.

Kate had regained her composure after seeing him and gently pushed him back, "I was shot, Rick and you're squeezing me? Goddamn it, have you no heart for an injured officer?"

Her tone was playful and he took it in gest as he raised his hand to his heart, "Awe, c'mon Kate. You're going to wound my little heart but I guess I can yell at you for getting shot again."

She smiled, "Later." She turned back towards the door, her thoughts now focused on her partner. Rick put an arm around her lightly and waited for Jane to come out.

"So you'll tell me all about this later but how is Jane doing?" he asked, "She had your back but how is she dealing with it all?"

"She's going to be just fine, Rick." There was something in her voice that caught his attention.

Before he could ask about it, the door opened and Jane walked out.

Rick took a step back as he realized that this wasn't the broken woman who had been living in his home for the last nine months. This was the Jane Rizzoli he had heard Kate talk about with such pride and admiration. Her eyes were cool and confident as she walked with the swagger he had only heard about.

She looked at him, "Castle, glad you could finally make it. You got Kate duty tonight."

He looked at her in astonishment, "Kate duty?"

Jane passed a look to Kate before turning back onto Rick, "Yep. She drove me nuts last night, tossing and turning. Whining and moaning about painkillers. I barely got any sleep so you're up tonight." She said, her voice broaching no argument.

As she headed back to the bullpen, Kate stopped next to him.

"Who was that and what happened to Jane?" he asked Kate.

"She's back." She said, "I've got a lot to catch you up on but she's back, Rick." She lean against the wall as she continued, "I don't get it. We were screwed. I was hit and she was staring at me, and all of a sudden we clicked and it's like she came back to life. She ran into the fire fight and saved my ass."

"What did you do?" he asked.

Kate shook her head, "Hell if I know." She looked thoughtful for a second and shook it away.

"Huh," Castle said as Kate straightened and headed to the bullpen, "She's not going to stay like this, is she?"

Kate paused, "You're not nervous, are you Castle?" there was a smirk growing on her face.

"Yeah, I am." he smiled and couldn't help but rib her a little, "I kinda like it."

"Just wait," she said with a mischievous glint, "It gets better."

She wiggled a finger at him and pointed to Jane at her desk, they watched in silence.

Detective Marks, one of the 12th's jerks, leisurely walked by Jane's desk, "Hey Rizzoli I ain't seen you crying in a while. You butching up or something?" he said with a gloat.

One look from Jane shut him up, "You want to eat that coffee cup?" Her calm husky voice was cold as ice, and her eyes turned dark, showing him that she would make him eat it. Marks's step took on a more urgent pace as he bypassed the coffee machine.

Kate smiled as she turned back to Castle, "I finally got to her, Rick. That's the Jane Rizzoli I know."

Castle patted his coat as he stared in awe. "Where's my note pad?" he said as he started digging into his pockets.