A/N: Sorry about the delay, I got stuck in a whole bunch of bad signal areas for the last two weeks. I have a hand full of chapters and am about ready to post them I just had a few details to iron out. Muse has been hit and miss and insists that I'm on my own until we get to Boston. Oh yeah, it's coming. Just a note that all chapters have been updated, corrections in grammar and some tie in details fixed but you should reread from the beginning and please note that due to MJ a deleted scene was reinstalled in the hospital.
Z: Made all the corrections you pointed out including that "Y". Good looking out pal. Appreciate it.
MJ: I got some pretty good fluff on the way, particularly linked to Angela and Maura. Pluss some funny as well. Thank a bunch for your help. I had to put the scene back where it was supposed to go.
M- OMG that's priceless. Wish granted, heads up for it.
Kate dropped into her chair and tossed her pen on her desk in frustration. She hated working cases without her partner. Since Jane was on administrative duties, she was required to do office work, cold cases, and today she was fulfilling the role of department courier. She had headed out this morning with six stops to exchange case files around Manhattan Island. One of which was at the 15th so she planned on staying for a few extra minutes to catch up with Sergeant Benson. Jane had also said she was going to sneak her lunch at Icahn so she could check in with Maura.
Kate was pretty sure Gates knew her intentions but hadn't said anything about it. Instead the Captain had been tied up with the shooting board all morning. Jane was scheduled to be back at the 12th by 1:pm and was expected to be present for the findings on her killing of the John Doe that Lanie was currently autopsying.
Kate had caught a break in the case she and Jane had landed right after thanksgiving and was eager to collect her partner and go investigate their latest lead. She had already filed the paperwork and was going over the case while she was waiting on a warrant. Ryan and Esposito were on standby to back her up with the warrant.
As much as she enjoyed working with them, Kate had come to rely on Jane. Her sarcastic wit, her intuition, her views on a scene, all complimented her own skills. Kate finally understood why Liv had been thrown so badly when her partner of 11 years just up and quit one day. Elliot Stabler had been a great partner for Olivia Benson and they had been through a lot together. Kate couldn't imagine what that would be like, being partnered with Jane for so long. She was already one of the most important people in her life.
Jane Rizzoli was family and Kate couldn't love Jane more had Joanna Beckett given birth to them both on the same day. That's why the thought of Jane going back to Boston was a thought Kate didn't even want to acknowledge. Kate knew it was irrational. She had partners a plenty that she liked to work with that moved on, but it was different with Jane. She didn't want to lose the best partner she ever had.
Although the homicide bull pen was a hub of activity, Kate glanced around and noted that she was relatively alone at her desk. She leaned toward the window and opened the bottom drawer of her desk. She knew what she was looking for and she flipped right to the empty case file. Empty except for one single sheet of paper. She left the file and the drawer open but pulled out the crisp white sheet of paper she had filled out two days after she and Jane had visited Maura's class.
She studied it again, making sure that it was filled out correctly and all the information was accurate. It awaited two signatures, hers and Captain Victoria Gates. When Gates had shoved one of these at Jane only a few days ago, Kate had secretly opened this drawer. Had Jane signed her transfer order, Kate would have signed her own and handed it to the Captain right there.
A wave of guilt washed over her about that. She hadn't talked to Castle about it at all and the last thing she wanted to do was put herself into a position where she had to choose between him and her partner. She had tried to talk to him about leaving New York many times but it never seemed to come out. She knew for a fact that Alexis would be all over the idea. She loved her Aunt, perhaps a bit too much but she couldn't point fingers when she herself felt the same. But then again, Jane had that effect on people.
On one of her visits to Boston, they were on their way to Fenway Park when Jane got called out to a murder scene. She had the chance to meet Jane's colleagues and see her at work. One of the things that had surprised her was how much respect her colleagues had for her. When she had asked an older burly detective about it he shrugged and said, "It's Jane. She's hard not to love."
Detective Korsak had been right. Jane was hard not to love once you got passed her cocky, surliness. Kate put the sheet back into its empty file at the back of the drawer. She knew that she had to talk to Rick about this and soon. Preferably before he found out on his own.
The elevator dinged and the man himself stepped out with fresh coffee. He smiled to her as he came over and sat in his seat at the edge of her desk. He passed her one of the cups and set the other on Jane's desk. The look on her face as she snatched up the steaming cup was what he had been after.
After taking a sip, she sighed, "Oh, I needed that." She took another sip and set it down.
"Thought Jane would have been back by now." He said as he eyed the empty desk.
Kate shook her head as her thoughts spun around her signature, "She's going to be gone all morning."
He dipped his head into her downtrodden vision, "Are you okay?"
"Do you know that point in the work day where you know all your productivity is lost?"
"Yeah," he said, "I know it well."
"I hit mine at about 8:15 this morning." She sighed and braced her forehead against her hand.
"Yeah." he hated to do this but they had to face it anyway, "Have you given any thought about when Jane goes back to Boston?"
"Oh, god," she covered her eyes with her hands, "You are so creepy sometimes. She dropped her hands and stared at him, "I was just thinking about that before you came in."
He smiled, "Anything you want to share with the love of your life?"
She raised an eyebrow at him, "Love of my life? Awful presumptuous aren't you, Castle?"
"Well you are the love of my life. So" he grinned.
She laughed, "Said the man who's been married twice." She grinned back, "Told you, I'm a one and done kinda girl."
"And third times the charm for me." He smiled and leaned in to kiss her.
She put a hand on his chin to stop him. "How much do you love me, really?"
"More than I have ever loved someone." He said confidently.
"Enough to leave New York If asked you too?" She asked cautiously.
He stopped, "Are you sending me away or something?" When she didn't smile his wilted, "Kate."
"What if I wanted to relocate to Boston?" She bit her lip nervously, "Would you come with me?"
Rick leaned back, his mouth open. He sputtered for a second before, "You mean if Jane goes back you would want to go with her."
"Kind of like that." She said.
"Exactly like that, Kate. Are you having an affair with Jane?" he deadpanned.
She punched him in the shoulder, "No Castle I'm not having an affair with my partner." She punched him again, "Got you're such a… such a… man!"
He rubbed at his shoulder, "Try not to hate me for it, I was born that way." He sipped at his coffee before looking at her again. "Tell me something?"
"What!" she shot.
"Is it something that you really want." He asked seriously, "I mean, is it worth giving up everything here. All of the things you've done, every bit of the respect that you've earned. Is it worth starting it all over again?"
She dropped her head into her hands, "I don't know, Rick? I don't want to lose her. Partnerships like ours don't happen every day. We work great together and we do so much good together. We're both driven by Justice, not closed cases."
"So unsolved murders go down in Boston but go back up in New York." He regretted it as soon as he said it. "That sounded a lot better in my head than it did out loud."
Kate was glaring at him, "Nice, Castle. Real nice. Why don't you just lay the entire cities problems right at my feet."
She got to her feet and as he tried to catch her hand she shook him off, "You could have just said no, Castle. You didn't have to try to guilt trip me into staying."
He got up, "Kate that's not what I meant."
"Eat it, Castle." She said as she stormed off down the hallway towards the elevator.
After hearing an extensive report on his illicit deal, he sat back in his chair and smiled to himself. His ingenuity had ensured that he would have more than enough funding to advance his career to the highest level. He stood at the edge of all of his dreams coming true, Power and influence. It was almost touchable.
His smile wilted as he thought of one loose end that could ruin it all. There was only one person who could end not only his career but his life and freedom. She was his only conceivable liability, one that he had sent two others out to eliminate but the detective from New York still lived and the man he had sent out after her had gone missing. His assistant had looked into the man's disappearance a few hours ago and had not yet reported back.
The thought of her still alive, still digging in to that attorney's murder sickened him. He should have killed her when she was a girl but he had no idea that things would turn out like this. That fool, Roy had done all he could to protect her. Now that he was dead, there had been nothing to stop her death but she was annoyingly a survivor. It didn't help that he had to make it quiet lest her death blow back on him.
He was about to pick up the phone when a knock sounded at his office door.
"Come in." he shouted hoping it was his assistant.
It was, the young man entered and reclosed the door before having a seat on the other side of his boss's desk. He sat his attaché case on the floor and pulled out a file.
"So what do you have, James?" He asked sharply, "What happened?"
"Well sir. I have some disturbing news." He held up the file so his boss could see the NYPD logo on it, "I'm afraid that Murphy was killed before he could complete his task."
He cursed sharply under his breath. As always James ignored it and continued. "As you know he had devised a plan to draw her into the designated area and everything had gone according to plan up to his last contact with me. After that his task went south.
James opened the file, "This is an NYPD debriefing and investigation in to the shooting of Nathanial Murphy. He led her and her partner in to the ambush at the factory. According to her statement to the shooting board, Murphy had a gun to the back of her head and was about to pull the trigger when he was killed by a single shot to the head by her partner."
He leaned forward, "If I remember correctly, Beckett is teamed up with that cop from Boston, right?"
James nodded and pulled two more files from his case and flipped open the NYPD one, "Yes sir. Detective Jane Clementine Rizzoli, NYPD Badge number 75209. She transferred into NYPD April of this year after a three month leave of absence from Boston Police."
He snorted at the name, "Clementine? Interesting choice." He thought for a second, "Tell me about the leave of absence."
James set down the NYPD file and picked up the BPD one. He flipped through it quickly and found the page he wanted, "It says that the leave of absence was requested by Rizzoli, citing personal reasons." He stared at the post it note stuck to the page, "One of our confidants in Boston has suggested that it may have had something to do with a Dr. Maura Dorthea Isles, who also had a three month leave of absence as the Chief Medical Examiner for Massachusetts. Apparently, our source has noted that the Doctor and the Detective had a very close friendship, possibly romantic in nature, however he hasn't been able to prove it.
He turned a page and continued on, "Since Boston isn't high on our friend's target list, we haven't had a lot of reason to dig in that area so most of our information here has come from official records."
"I thought you did a psych profile on Rizzoli when she was partnered with Beckett."
"I did sir." He returned to his own manila folder, "Detective Rizzoli was one of BPDs best. She was the youngest officer to make detective in BPD history, first woman in BPD Homicide. Three years ago, she was given a medal of valor for shooting herself in the stomach during a hostage situation."
"How do you get a medal of valor for shooting yourself?"
"She was taken hostage by a corrupt detective who tried to escape by holding a gun to her head. She pulled the gun to her stomach and pulled the trigger. The bullet killed him after it passed through her."
"And you weren't concerned that this woman was teamed up with Beckett?" His blue eyes were fixed on James. If looks could kill, James would have been burned to the ground in seconds. "This is exactly the kind of thing you were supposed to prevent."
"I wasn't concerned because our psychological profile of Rizzoli changed drastically around middle of January. What ever happened is not in official records. That combined with the fact that she wasn't a person we would take an interest in until she came to New York City. Since we keep tabs on Beckett that was when Rizzoli came to our attention. Observations of her have strongly suggested that Rizzoli had been broken emotionally and was no kind of asset to Beckett. Her first NYPD evaluation at her orientation course at the academy was still suggestive of emotional turmoil and confirmed my initial estimate of a liability not an asset. My best analysis was indicative that she would never fully recover."
"Tell that to Murphy."
"Yes sir, Murphy's death at the hands of Rizzoli was a highly unexpected event. I am currently reevaluating all of our information on Detective Rizzoli including the shooting report." He flipped through the NYPD file again, "I suspect that something significant has happened to detective Rizzoli, both to cause the change in her behavior as well as her recent behavior. However I believe that in the case of Jane Rizzoli, the psychological profile may not be reliable."
"Meaning?" he leaned forward, "what? That she's fooling all of the shrinks in two police departments?"
"I admit, that is not very likely, however based on what I have learned about her over the last few hours, if she becomes the kind of detective she had been in Boston… Well sir, you wouldn't want her in Joanna Beckett's case. But not to worry unnecessarily, I have already contracted someone to clean up the mess and I am expecting a report this evening."
He thought about that while James was putting his files away. This was not the kind of information he wanted to hear. Detective Katherine Beckett was his greatest threat. Add that to what he was being told about Jane Rizzoli and this could easily become a nightmare.
"I want a complete work up on Jane Clementine Rizzoli, strengths, weaknesses, familial ties. I want you do dig so far into her life until we know what she has for breakfast before she does."
James nodded, "I'll have it for you by Friday, sir."
As James left, he leaned back into his chair and resisted the urge to reach for the cognac he kept in the drawer of his desk. He wouldn't let those detectives make him weak. Not when he was this close. He stood to look out the window of his office. Off in the distance he could see the Washington Monument. Soon he would have a different view of it.
Kate slid the magazine into the Glock 37 she was checking out and racked the slide back. It snapped forward and she took aim at the target at the end of the alley. The shadowy shape of a man with crash dummy circles on it fluttered at the end of the range.
She lined up the sights and squeezed off two quick rounds. They both punched holes above the heart mark. She reaimed and fired twice more. Two more stiches rising away from the target.
She felt a hand pull her hearing protectors away from her head.
"You're doing it wrong." She felt a small hand on her back, pushing slightly, "Lean a bit more into it." She did. She felt her partner come up behind her to look down the sight, "Now tip down just a little bit," a hand on her arm. "Right there."
She backed up and the hearing protector was replaced.
The gun shot sounded twice as she put two neat holes almost on top of the heart.
She did it twice more, and the slide locked in place. She set the gun down and pressed the recall button to bring the target back.
Jane stood next to her, earmuffs around her neck, and safety glasses perched on top of her head. Jane smiled as the target came back. Kate's last six shots were kills.
Kate took the target down and replaced it and sent it out farther. She adjusted the sight on the Glock to account for the difference and once the target stopped she replaced the magazine and the slide slid into place with a satisfying clink. She aimed and fired in two-shot bursts. The ten rounds went down range and hit the target.
With the slide open again, she set it down and recalled the target. She also pulled off her ear muffs and set them on the table.
Jane was behind her looking over Kate's earlier targets. She could see when Kate had switched weapons.
"Big difference between a nine millimeter and a 45 caliber, isn't it?" She said.
Kate pulled the target and replaced it, "Yeah, big difference." She sent it down further and pulled the box of ammunition to reload the magazines.
Jane looked at her then, target still in her hands, "You want to talk about it?"
"About what?" she said as she slapped a mag onto the table and began slipping rounds into the next one.
"About what's had you down her at the range for the last couple of hours." She said as she set the target down and retrieved her partner's recent replacement.
"No. I don't." She said as she slapped another one down and grabbed the last mag. "I want to shoot."
Jane set the target down and stepped into the booth next to her. "Want me to shoot him."
Kate knew who he was and knew that Jane was joking. "No. I might need him later for target practice."
Kate slipped the earmuffs back on and Jane stepped out. Ten shots later Jane was back at her side. Kate pulled one muff back and recalled the target.
"I have a more satisfying way to blow off that steam." She grinned, "It involves a fifty cal."
She stopped at the thought of another sniper rifle. She set the gun down and looked pointedly at her partner.
Jane's grin slid as her partner's eyes focused on her. She could see the fear and the hurt in her friends eyes. "Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't mean…"
"I… I think I've had enough of snipers for a while." She said.
"Okay," she said and started to turn away.
"Hey." Kate said and Jane stopped, "when I'm ready, there's no one else I want to help me with that."
A slight smile creased her face, "I'll be there."
She turned to leave and Kate caught her again. "You don't have to leave. I'm just working out some things." She turned back and changed out the target and sent it back even further, "How good are you, Jane."
She thought about that for a minute, "Sometimes, just sometimes, I think that the only thing I'm good at is understanding death."
"You good at a lot of things." She said, "I know if Maura was here she could google a list for you right now."
Jane laughed at the thought of her girlfriend spewing all the things she thought Jane was good at, "She's biased."
"Speaking of which, how was lunch?"
"Great, we had sex on her desk." Jane grinned mischievously and Kate knew she was lying.
"Too much information, Rizzoli." She said with a chuckle. "Don't want to hear about how quick you are."
"Oh c'mon. Don't tell me you and Rick haven't gotten it on in the evidence room or something."
She looked at Jane, "Nope, never." Jane's eyes went wide, Kate was lying too.
"Just tell me it wasn't on my desk." She groaned as Kate quietly reloaded the empty magazine. "Horn dog."
Kate grinned, "I told you he has a cute ass."
Jane smiled at the old joke, "And I told you, yours is better."
Kate stepped back and waved Jane in, "Show me how good you are."
Jane slid out of her blazer and handed it to Kate. She then pulled her 45 and pulled out the magazine and handed that to Kate.
"Hollow points?" she said eyeing the rounds.
"Hydra-shoks." She said, "stopping power of a hollow point but more accurate after penetration. The brass and lead mushroom out like a hollow point but the groves in the tip are supposed to make it do it evenly."
"And that pointy core." She said as she set the magazine on the table behind her.
"Stability, at least that's what I'm told." She slid her glasses on and slipped her ear muffs on.
Jane sent the target all the way back and took all three magazines in her right hand. She slid one in and locked it in place before pulling the slide and releasing it. She kept the other two in her right hand as she slid the pistol into its holster. She loosened her arms. Kate watched Jane for the slightest movement.
Before she seen it, Jane had the pistol out, leveled and was firing all ten rounds at the target. When she was empty, she hit the release and like a machine, pulled the magazine out in a downward motion and replaced it with the second mag in an upward motion and catching the slide release, the bold slid back into place. It only took a second before Jane was already firing again and like before, when the slide locked back she jerked her arm down and back up and the slide slammed forward into place and Jane was firing her third barrage. The whole process took less than 20 seconds and Jane had sent 30 bullets into the target.
She released the magazine and set all three on the table before she pressed the recall button. She didn't put the gun away and Kate watched as heat poured off the barrel. Jane waited a minute for the target to return. She set her pistol on the table and pulled the target before handing it to Kate.
"That's thirty yards." She said as she pulled off her ear muffs.
Kate looked at the target that had a shredded center mass around the heart mark and the head mark. She stared at Jane. "Jesus, Jane."
"Yeah." She said as she replaced the target and sent it down the range. She then began reloading the magazines.
Kate looked at her, "Teach me."
"I can try but I just have a knack for it." Jane said as she examined her pistol. She slid a single round directly into the now cool chamber and hit the slide release. She slipped on her hearing protection, then carefully aimed at the target and fired. The target fluttered and Jane recalled it.
"What was that for?" Kate asked after Jane slipped off the ear muffs.
She held up the pistol, "Firing that many rounds so quickly heats up the barrel too fast and you can actually warp it." She pointed at the target, where a neat hole was in the center of the head mark. "I was just checking to make sure it's still accurate."
Jane picked up the borrowed 45 and set it on the back table along with its ammunition. She then placed a box of nine mil shells on the shooting table and had Kate draw her sidearm. Kate assumed her hand under shooting stance and Jane guided her as she fired round after round at the target.
After the box was used up, Jane helped her clean up the brass casings and picked up the targets. Kate returned the loaned 45 to the armory and they headed up to the bull pen.
Jane didn't say anything in the elevator but her look said it all. I can't help if you don't talk to me.
Kate stared at her partner's reflection. I need to do this on my own.
Okay, but I'm here for you.
Kate nodded, "It's scary how we can do that sometimes."
"Yeah but I meant what I said, I'm here for you."
"I know, Jane." She said and put a hand on her partner, "I appreciate it."
They stood in silence until the doors opened. Beckett glanced at the briefing room as she passed by on her way to her desk. Jane didn't say anything as she sat down in her own chair.
Kate looked up at her partner, "So what happened at the board?"
Jane sighed and leaned back in her chair, "I gave my deposition and they dismissed me. The Captain said she'd call me if they needed anything else."
Kate nodded and picked up the case she had been waiting on the warrant for. She tossed it onto Jane's desk. "Anything in there I missed?"
Jane flipped open the file and read through the pages, "Your just familiarizing me with the case, aren't you?"
"Well, we can't do anything until the warrant comes in so why not." Kate met Jane's eyes, I know they'll clear you.
Jane nodded and ran through the events in the case, "Looks solid to me." She said and closed the file. She picked up her pen and tapped at her lip nervously.
The ringing of Kate's desk phone startled her. She quickly picked it up, "Beckett."
"Word of caution Beckett," Lanie said, "Don't piss of your partner."
"Why's that?" She said with a chuckle.
Lanie didn't laugh, "You wouldn't believe the amount of damage she did to this guy's throat."
"What do you mean?" she sat up in her chair.
"I mean that if not for the impression of Jane's boot in this guy's throat, I'd say she tried to take his head off with a battering ram or a baseball bat."
"He was trying to kill her and her girlfriend." She said, "You get an ID on him yet?"
"Not yet," she sounded perturbed, "His fingerprints aren't in AFIS and were still waiting on CODIS for the DNA. I'll call you when I get an answer."
"Okay, thanks Lanie." She said and hung up.
"Did she ID him?" Jane said hopefully.
"Not yet," she huffed, "Prints not on file and waiting on the DNA."
"Ugh," Jane groaned. "Well that should take a week or two knowing CODIS."
Kate picked up the file and thumbed through it before tossing it down in frustration. They heard the briefing room doors open and Captain Gates came out in a peak. She strode passed Jane's desk on her way back to her office.
"Rizzoli, Your reinstated." She barked at the detective, "Beckett, find Ryan and Esposito and get that warrant."
"Yes sir!" they shouted together.
Kate smiled at Jane, "Told ya."
"Yeah, yeah, yeah." she said with a grin as she yanked her coat off of her chair.
Kate laughed as she too grabbed her coat and headed out with her partner. Within an hour they had the warrant and twenty minutes after that they had everything they needed for a conviction.