The dimly lit hind corner of Tackler's had one of those old school wooden bars that wrapped around an impressive display of gin and rum bottles, and made you feel as though no matter where you sat the bar you would always feel just far enough apart to be anonymous, even if you came there every night for the past thirty years like most of its patrons.

"I can never get over the smell in here." Jane murmured to her left as she and Cameron Davies made their way around stout metal tables as their boots thwacked against the sticky wooden floorboards. A sleepy sea tune turned carnival nightmare played on the jukebox in the corner shaped liked a woman's brassier, and all around them lay either the youthful glazed stairs of heavily inebriated yet sedated new generation of longshoreman. The older the bar goer, the greyer the whiskers and the less company they kept while they drank.

Cameron watched carefully as they turned heads on their journey to the bar. "I think that's a good thing."

After the last body was found early that morning in Port Grady Park and the body count rose to five victims, he officially petitioned his higher ups for a joint partnership with BPD to help solve the case. It were long overdue in his opinion yet HQ seemed to think otherwise until now.

Jane scanned the bar before locating a short woman with jet black hair and skull tattoos on her knuckles behind it. She motioned her forward as she and Davies made it to the very end of the wooden structure. "What do you want?" She turned to ask him. Davies looked like he was going to protest but Jane stopped him. "We're shaking this entire place down and you won't even buy a beer from them?"

He chuckled. "Whiskey, neat."

Jane nodded and turned toward the bartender who she had flagged down. "Hey sweetheart how you doin?" The young bartender smiled only partly; Jane had kind eyes.

"I'm alright." She looked between Jane and Davies and tossed her bar rag over her shoulder. "You guys cops?"

Jane and Cameron exchanged looks. They weren't exactly dressed any different from how they would go into work, a little over dressed for a Thursday night at a dingy fisherman's bar but hey, they had to act quick on whatever information they had at this point. "We will be." Jane leaned against the bar some more. "Right now we're just looking for a drink."

She looked suspicious but then shrugged. "What can I get you?"

"I'll have a whiskey, house is fine, neat." Cameron nodded.

"Alright, and for you?"

Jane motioned toward the tap. "Whatever you got on tap." The bartender left to fulfill their order and Jane and Davies finally sat down on their stools.

"Sensed a bit of a Boston accent there, Detective. I have to say, I'm equal parts impressed and mortified."

Jane rolled her eyes while angling her stool so she could watch the bar floor carefully. "I had to counter your bad suit. Give me a break."

Cameron chuckled. "Fair." They weren't looking to really blend in tonight. They were casing the place before the calvary arrived. See the body found in Port Grady Park was a young woman, just like the rest of their victims, but instead of the filthy clothing or the dirt under the nailbed this victim looked dressed for a night out, her pocket lint suggested she was here before she got murdered, and after Maura's hasty (to which she was still protesting) initial autopsy they could confirm she had ingested alcohol. They had already independently hit up another popular dock worker bar to no avail. Something about the stares they were getting from everyone inside of Tackler's Box felt like they hit the jackpot though.

A message came through on Cameron's cell phone and he checked it before slipping his phone back into his coat pocket. "We're twenty minutes out." He shared.

Jane nodded at him before turning to receive her beer. "What's this?"

The bartender motioned to the tap before handing Cameron his drink. "New IPA we got. Tell me if you like it, the boss wants to add a few new things."

Jane nodded in thanks before taking a sip and nodding again. "It's good, you're into beer then? Micro breweries and stuff?"

She rolled her eyes. "God no, but I guess something has to change right? Can't keep drinking the same five beers."

Jane agreed. "I had a friend who was into all this."

She lifted a brow. "He get shot?" Jane's features twitched and she noticed but decided she wanted to know anyway. "Cops are always getting shot."

"Nothing like that."

"Well whatever happened I'm sorry."

"Thanks."

The bartender looked to Cameron. "He talk at all?" Davies shook his head no and she raised a brow in amusement. "You guys are pretty bad cops." She motioned to their drinks. "Drinking on the job, I'm not expert but I'm pretty sure that's not allowed."

Jane nodded. "How about we try something else then. Mind if I ask you a few questions?"

"You still gotta pay for the drinks."

"It always this empty on a Thursday night?"

The bartender definitely seemed suspicious now, but she couldn't help but feel curious. Maybe if there was an issue they'd get to lock up early. She worked a double today and really could use the time off her feet.

"Sometimes."

"Like now, this normal?"

The bartender took a second to examine the floor. "You got your regulars." She motioned with her chin toward an elderly man near the door nursing a gin and tonic. "Lu over there thinks no one knows he's homeless, he rolls out a cot when I close." She motioned to another younger man with scars on his face. "Kelley got kicked out by his old lady again. I can tell cause he's wearing what he wore yesterday… well minus the ring."

"You seem to know a lot about everyone here." Davies observed.

"I know enough to keep them drinking and tipping, not enough to care. Not really." She shared matter officially.

Jane noticed Davies about to pull out his cell phone to show her a picture of one of their victims, but she covered his hand before the bartender could notice. Instead she took a sip of her beer and wiped the foam off her mouth with the back of her hand. "What can you tell us about the girls in the park?" She asked plainly, that subtle hint of Boston slipping again. Davies nodded at her process and slipped his phone back into his pocket. She was a cop, but she was one of them,, a native, someone relatable. This was just a small enough part of town where she could work this angle.

"What can I tell you about those girls?" She asked Jane again, this time taking a particular interest in her features. "You the cop on the news? You look familiar." She had been trying to place her since she ordered a beer.

Jane had been in the media countless times over the years. She shrugged. "Could be."

The bartender looked at her intently for a moment more, as if deciding if she could trust her, as if deciding if it was worth a damn to care. She worked at a fisherman's bar, where manners and a little hospitality were hard to come by, this cop though, she seemed to get that, and though she played at it for information it was still welcome. "Well I can tell you I noticed some guys watching that coverage on channel seven the other day, hooting and hollering, seemed more like they were watching a ballgame and not some poor girl's body being found."

Jane nodded. "You remember what they said, what they looked like?"

"Nah, they didn't say too much specifically, but they looked excited, looked like fisherman y'know, regular bunch of guys."

"But you've never seen them in here before?" Davies needed to clarify.

The bartender looked at him and then back to Jane who raised a brow to suggest she wanted to know the same. "Never seen them in here before no, but one of them was a friend of a friend, of a cousin of a friend, y'know? I've seen him 'round. He's a squid."

"He's in the Navy?" She nodded. "How do you know?"

"How could I tell?" The bartender actually chuckled. "You aren't really that keen on the obvious are you…?" A question fluttered onto the tail end of her dig.

Jane decided she'd play ball and put out her hand. "Detective Rizzoli."

She shook it and held it a moment before meeting Jane's eyes when she noticed the scars. "Right right, I remember you from the news. I was going to say Calzoni or something. Italian." Cameron snorted and Jane tossed him a look. "He was wearing all white detective, sailors' outfit. Every time I ever saw him, and I mean like the one or two time in my life, he was wearing that. Complete with the cute little hat." She finally let Jane's hand go.

"Could you ID him if you had to?" Davies asked and the bartender shrugged. "Yes? No?"

"Maybe."

"You remember a name for him? This friend of a friend of a cousin?"

"People call him Vic." Someone at the end of the bar called for the bartender's attention but she made a point to divert her attention in the other direction long enough for both Jane and Cameron to notice. "Don't let me know if you need anything else."

Jane nodded. "Thanks." She turned to Davies who was already in the process of alerting his team to change the search party. "Another name." How big exactly was this?

"How'd you know she'd tell us exactly what we needed to know?" He slipped his phone back in his pocket and reached for his drink to take a pretend sip.

Jane shrugged. "She seemed bored." She motioned with her chin toward the young bartender. "A bartender her age, looking the way she does in a shoreman's bar?" She shrugged. "She probably hasn't had a decent conversation in months."

Davies chuckled. "See Rizzoli this is why you're gonna kick some serious recruit ass in Virginia. The art of observation is totally lost with all this technology, the new recruits come in lacking basic social skills."

Jane reached for her beer. "The Art of Observation." She was playing with how it sounded out loud.

He raised a brow. "You get the call yet?"

Jane shook her head. "No."

"You sure? It's not always a phone call." He sat up some when a figure caught his attention toward the back of the bar. "You check your mail?"

Mail? Jane had been barely been home at all since returning from New York. She recalled the large stack of envelopes left out on her kitchen counter in her mind's eye. "I haven't really been around."

Davies gave her an odd look then. "Oh." He wagged his finger. "Mr. Top Cop."

"Grow up." Jane rolled her eyes and the taller man chuckled.

"You should just tell me who he is y'know? I'm a secret agent, we have ways of finding these things out."

"You sure are willing to break a lot of rules for a girl with a Boston accent."

Cameron's chuckled again, it was warm and friendly. "Not just some girl." He tailed at the end while diverging his attention fully to Jane. "And you're right, I'm a little sore." Jane looked at him. He smiled at her in a gentle sort of way, it is what started their whole thing in the first place. Jane felt guilty for feeling totally immune to it though. Instead of sharing a few slices of her favorite pizza (and stealing one slice of Maura's) and drinking wine with her… Maura, she was here in a smelly fisherman's bar on a cold night pretending to drink IPA that taste like spit with a man who since her return was really starting to push the envelope with seeing just how sure she was about this Mr. Top Cop.

If she were honest she still wasn't sure how to proceed with him, they worked together and would possibly continue having to work together, but Jane Rizzoli was hardly the type to get confused after she learned something, she was a quick study that way. She wanted to be on Maura's couch, trying to figure out a way to pay her rolling debt in kisses for today and yesterday, not here with him.

"You'll be alright."

Cameron's smile broadened. "Yeah." His attention peaked again at the figure near the end of the bar. "Your four thirty."

Jane lifted her beer glass and tiled her head inconspicuously to check somewhat behind her. "Yeah, I saw him when we got in." She turned back to Davies. "He moved from the other side of the bar; he was sitting with that old guy in the Scotch Highland plaid."

Davies looked around a moment. Just about everyone was wearing plaid. "In the what?"

Jane rolled her eyes. "The green." The two slowly slipped from their stools in unison. Jane reached into her wallet and left a crumbled fifty on the bar before she and Davies nodded. "Secret agent doesn't know what the difference is between Scotch Highland plaid and regular plaid?" She teased. She would only tease him, hell she had no clue until one very very long car ride to pick up her mother a year back where Maura went into excruciating detail on the subtleties of men's fashion.

Davies huffed. "Our guy is making his way to the door."

Jane nodded as she reached a careful hand to sit on the butt of her firearm. "I'm right behind you."

##

Jane nodded, she could easily say his field work needed a little work, but seeing Davie's interrogate the fisherman they picked up at Tackler's was down right art. Within fifteen minutes they confirmed their sailor's name. Victor O'Doul, and his connection to Joe Macon as a childhood friend. Warrants were being pushed ahead as fast as they could at this hour to search both men's apartments, and Frankie just confirmed their APBs were recorded correctly.

"Alright." Jane began as she creaked her rolling desk chair backward and brought her right leg up to rest on her knee. She wiped some invisible debris off her chin and pointed to the clear glass board stationed in its usual spot behind her desk. It was nice to have the space back, that broom closet of a bullpen was really starting to make everyone a little crazy. "At this point we have five victims, all female, all between the ages of 21 and 32, all left int public parks." She leaned back in her chair more, pushing the reclining function to it is limits to look over at Korsak and the three FBI agents surrounding his desk.

"We believe that the park only bares significance as a mode of opportunity to this group." Agent Weller spoke up. Jane liked him, he was all business and leaned early in arriving to Boston that he should not bother her with questions that weren't relevant to the case. "It's dark at night, and no one is going to question a group of guys leaving the park."

Frankie nodded from his rolling chair near his sister. "Agree with you, but they gotta get the victims from wherever they were to that location." He motioned to the clear glass board littered with images of suspects and other case clippings. "Macon's company does freight and shipping, and from what we saw at the dock those delivery vans could be our transportation vehicle."

"We need a damn good warrant to check them all." Korsak crossed his arms.

"We can get a damn good warrant." Davies nodded to one of his teammates. "By morning I want that whole area turned over."

Jane looked back to the board. "So we'll have that dock, Macon's condo, and O'Doul's place." She stood looking at the images of the men with criminal records. She pointed to Joseph Macon's photo before plucking it off the glass board and positioning it at the very top of a corner before stepping back and looking at all the information. Frankie wordlessly got out of his seat and went over to where she stood. After a moment he relocated the union rep's mugshot and placed it right beside Macon's Jane nodded several times. "Yeah." She mumbled into her fist. She moved O'Doul's photo under Macon's and then Khury's under O'Doul's. "Khury wanted out, that's the disagreement he had with Sal…" She turned to the small army watching them. "This isn't it." She pointed to the small triangle of images. "We got Khury and O'Doul, we got the union rep, there has to be more because we have more bodies downstairs."

Davies nodded. "I want to check communication records from when they were first processed."

Jane agreed. "Might lead us to Macon, cause if this is true." She motioned of the triangle of images. "Then this guy has had enough time to hide whatever he wants to hide, or skip town."

"What I don't get." Korsak began while standing from his desk. "Is what happened to start this?"

Jane bit her lip. She had lost sleep over the lack of motive. "Well these killings had to start from something, some stressor, right?" She motioned to Weller who nodded.

"There would have had to be a sort of pack mentality before all of this, If we're right Macon always in some way influenced the people involved. It's exceedingly rare that groups such as this one would commit a violent crime on a whim together much less murder and transport."

Jane nodded. "So we look in old cases again."

"Instead of individually looking at each suspect let's widen the net to any group crimes where officers couldn't find fault, let's go back ten years to Macon's formative years, bar fights, street outburst, disturbing the peace, anything." Davies nodded to his tech and Nina. "Holiday you mind taking point on this?"

Nina nodded. "Sure thing."

"While we wait for all this to process, I'll look into Macon's financials, if he's starting to lose weight with his business I'm sure he's just insecure enough of a leader to want to lash out." Frankie added.

Davies pointed at Frankie. "Good idea, I'll run over that bar footage, see if we can't make out our latest Jane Doe in the last few days."

"Anything from Doctor Isles?" Korsak asked Jane from across the room.

Jane sunk herself back down into her chair. "Well we didn't get any dirt under the nails this time, but Maur—" She paused when remembering the mixed professional company. "—Dr. Isles confirmed cause of death as strangulation. Ligature marks were inflicted post-mortem, likely from the rope—" She sighed loudly. "—Thickly woven strand consistent with the qualities similar to commercial fishing ropes." She corrected herself again. Vince chuckled to himself and Frankie and Nina exchanged amused looks. The rest of the room was lost. Jane checked her watch for the time. Shit she hadn't realized how late it had gotten. An entire day from sunrise to sunset spent without any conscious recollection. "She was going to run some other tests. I'll check in on it tomorrow morning when she gets in."

Davies nodded and looked at his team. "Everyone knows what they are working on. The warrant should be in early, so meet here at oh six hundred hours unless specified, be ready to deliver warrants." He paused. "Good job today." The gaggle of FBI agents lingered for two well planned minutes before vacating the office and leaving both Rizzoli siblings, Nina, Korsak, and Davies to move chairs from where they had come from and strategize.

"You need a lift home?" Davies asked Jane as he approached her desk with his coat over his shoulder.

Jane shook her head softly. She was beat but fully intended to crash on Maura's office couch to get a leg up on work in the morning. "I'm good. Thanks."

He nodded. "Listen I wanted to say thanks for all the help today, should have been a lot sooner but I uh, think I let me ego get a little ahead of me."

Jane let up a small smile. "It's pretty big, I can see how that can happen."

Davies chuckled and shook his head. "Night, Rizzoli."

"Night." She nodded. Frankie was next to approach her. "We're close." She reassured with a broader smile. He looked like hell, but more determined than ever.

"Yeah we are. I'll grab coffee in the morning?"

Jane grabbed her coat. "Make mine a quadruple shot, maybe through in some gasoline too."

He nodded. "Oh yeah, no problem." He paused wondering if now were a good time to bring their father up. "I went through his emails, nothing y'know, nothing on that New York thing we were talking about."

Aside from Frankie (because he had literally been in her presence all day) Jane had momentarily forgotten she had a family all together. She got so focused on the cases sometimes... "Nothing?"

"Just some fantasy baseball stuff." He shrugged.

Jane nodded to herself and wondered if she could pack that away into a neat and tidy corner of her mind to consider later. They all said goodnight, even Korsak after ten or so odd minutes of the two sitting at their desks in silence tidying up a few loose ends for the day. Once alone in the bullpen Jane reclined back in her chair some and ran her fingers down the bridge of her nose and closed her eyes to take in a large breath, hold it, and then let it go. Maura had taught her the technique a while ago, it was supposed to calm her cells down or something, bring her focus and relax her at the same time. Jane supposed it helped some because when she sat up in her chair she was ready to easily bang out another half hour of work. When that was too hard to do she sucked down an old Boston Joe's cup of water from the break room and returned to her desk.

Jane checked her cell phone when she returned and frowned when she noticed it was half past ten and that she had missed a call from Maura ten minutes ago. She was quick hit redial and brought the phone to her ear as she wiggled her computer mouse with her free hand to wake her computer monitor.

"Is it safe to assume you are still at work?" It was soft but awake, Maura was probably in bed reading.

Jane smirked at the sound of her voice. If warmed honey had a sound it would be Maura's voice when she was at her most comfortable. "You're Doctor Maura Isles, you don't assume, even if it's safe."

She rested the book against her robed chest. "You make a valid point."

Jane smiled and leaned back in her chair and made sure she was truly out of earshot and alone before softening her voice to match the ME's. "How you doin? I haven't seen you all day."

"Well." Maura smiled to herself at the tone change. "I had a very productive day."

"Yeah? What about our guy with the doorknob in his stomach? Any update?"

They spoke on the phone for a while about their days. Jane updated Maura on the plan for tomorrow morning with each search warrant and Maura walked her through the mass spectrometer and why proper calibration was what was holding up test results from their current victim.

"I really wish you would consider leaving to get some rest." Maura interrupted when Jane was telling her about the financial records she was currently combing through.

Jane let her mouse go and blinked a few times. She was really pushing herself tonight, she was sure the ME heard it in her voice. "I know."

"Won't you come over?"

Jane glanced at her watch and then bit the inside of her mouth. A serial killing pack of fishermen was literally the only thing that could keep her out of Maura's bed right now. "Aw Maura, I… would want to, but I can't. It's already late and I feel like we really have one shot with this theory of mine, I wanna make sure it's rock solid. I have to stay." She tried to explain. Maura didn't say anything for a moment and the detective sighed. "Are you upset?"

The ME shook her head. "No." She wasn't, how could she be? This was Jane, she had not changed just as she requested her not to. "I suppose I'm disappointed."

Jane leaned back in her chair. "Yeah."

"I've grown quite accustom to having you around." New York had been so much fun. Vacations had to end though, she understood this. So why did her bed feel so incredibly empty right now? "At night especially." She added.

Jane blushed and her smile wrinkled into cute concern as she looked around her again to ensure she were alone for the second time. "C'monnn." She drawled out softly. "Now how am I supposed to work now?"

Maura let up a soft hum of amusement as her body heated with the flush in her cheeks. "It was never my intension to create an environment where you could."

Jane chuckled. "Maura." She warned.

The ME smiled to herself. "If I were to ask you again, would you reconsider?"

Jane crossed her arms. "You know I would."

"I suppose I shouldn't ask you again."

"Let's say I did." Maura made a small noise to signal that she was welcome to considering this probability. "What then?"

"You would like something in return for coming over?" She quirked a brow and swore she could see the smirk on Jane's lovely features.

"Sure, what's in it for me?" Maura huffed politely and Jane couldn't help her laugh, "You snore—"

"—I do not—"

"—Your feet are really cold, you make up the bed even if I'm still in it.—" Maura's laughter cut her off. It was arguably one of her favorite sounds, had been for years now. "Don't laugh these are real hardships."

"We have already come to an agreement. One in which you have skillfully avoided upkeeping."

Jane grinned. "So what I'm supposed to track you down in the middle of the day for some kisses?"

"You would not be in debt if you had."

"Your inner mobster is showing, Maura."

Maura's chest rumbled a moment more before she settled into a light sigh. Jane had begun to say something but she could not hear it. All she could hear was her inner self demanding she express a need. Demanding that she allowed an option for someone else to fulfill it for her, If only for this one thing.

"I mean it was only about—"

"—I want you here." Maura pressed quietly.

Jane stilled at the request before reaching forward to turn off her computer monitor and sitting back in her seat. "Yeah?"

"Yes,"

"I'm on my way."

Forty-five minutes later Maura woke from her light dozing to arms wrapping around her torso and Jane's frame pressing softly into her back.

"I'm here." The detective murmured onto her cheek before kissing it in greeting. Maura let her left arm free itself from under her weighed blanket and come to cup Jane's jaw behind her in a greeting of her own. She hummed in an entirely new way though when she felt the other woman drag the tip of her nose across her cheek some before pressing another smaller kiss there, and another a few seconds later just below it. Maura turned in her arms to look up into Jane's dark eyes.

"Rest." She soothed. Maura could practically feel the heat radiating from Jane's slender form and she somehow knew the look in her eyes even though she had never seen it before. She ran the pad of her thumb along the arch of her cheekbone and watched the other woman respond by briefly closing her eyes. Her face as lovely as it was had thinned with fatigue and her brows knitted in mild frustration, as if she were trying to channel the will to remain present but had been caught. Jane had been working for over fourteen hours straight and was almost guaranteed to do the same tomorrow. Right now what she needed was cellular regeneration, healing… The unmistakable pull of arousal caused Maura's stomach muscles to grow taunt when Jane opened her eyes again and looked down at her. Maura continued the small caress of her cheek to thin the detective's energy with each pass. "Rest." She repeated. Jane nodded once before leaning down for the two to share a kiss before rolling onto her back and almost immediately falling into a dreamless sleep.

##

"Hm, precisely what I was thinking." Kent hummed with his thick Scottish accent. "Perhaps we can isolate the underlying cause for the drool."

Maura looked up at from behind her microscope with wrinkled brows. "Drool?"

He stood up straight and nodded. "Drool."

The ME let her gloved hands leave the base of the examination equipment. "You are referring to his sialorrhea?"

"Yes, Doctor. His drool." Kent let up a little smile before it fell immediately with the onset of a new theory. "Lingual lipase." He offered in way of explanation.

Maura brought her attention back to the microscopic piece of metal belonging to a larger piece of doorknob. She sighed to herself in what could be misread as frustration but really was her homing in and enjoying the challenge this particular case was presenting them. "Catalytic triads of aspartate, histidine, and serine are meant to free fatty acids, not decompose copper and zinc." She pulled herself away from the sample and removed her gloves.

"Well maybe it wasn't made entirely of copper and zinc." Kent crossed his arms.

"That would explain why we have such high amounts left in this particulate."

"Commercial grade lipo-gel is used in some common place hardware synthetics."

"It is a start." Maura put up a finger. "Let's run another trace sampling."

Kent grew excited. "O' Captain, my Captain."

"I will pass on the bugle trills this time." Maura chuckled and shook her head as she reached into her lab coat pocket for her vibrating cell phone. "Dr. Isles." She turned in efforts to mute the strange man bellowing Walt Whitman down the laboratory corridor.

"Dr. Isles, this is Office Monroe from the front desk."

Maura began making her way toward her office. "Yes, Officer Monroe, hello."

"You have a guest here, a…" There was a small pause as Maura imagined the aging officer pushing his glasses up onto his nose so he could read out of his bifocals. "Hope Martin here to see you."

Maura paused. "Oh." She had completely forgotten that while in New York they had made plans for tea this very day. "Yes, I will be right there, thank you, Officer." When she made it to the lobby Hope smiled warmly at her and the two embraced.

"Have you forgotten our plans?" Hope had studied her features long enough to know the ME's politely surprised expression especially when it turned guilty at being discovered. "I can return." She offered as Maura tired to form a reply.

"No." She finally smiled. "No, that won't be necessary."

"Okay." Hope nodded. "Perhaps we can have tea here." She motioned to the Division One café off to the left.

"That would be more convenient yes, but I'm afraid their tea selections are not quite as… extensive of Bon Te." It was possible that she and Kent may have spent a little too much time playing with their lab toys today and she had an evening autopsy and an email inbox bursting at its metaphorical seams to attend to. Still, as they stood their exchanging pleasantries and smiling, she realized she missed their kindred talks and welcomed the other woman's presence.

Hope waved gently. "I am sure whatever it is will work just fine, I don't mind staying. How much time do you have?"

Maura checked her watch. "An hour?" They turned toward the café.

"Just enough time to fill me in on New York."

"Yes, these last few days have been rather fast pace." It was hard to believe that this time last week she was getting ready for a dinner date with Jane in Manhattan. The Division One Café was somewhat crowded at this time of day. It wasn't quite the same though without Angela's presence, and though he'd never admit it Maura was sure at times like this where the hissing of the expression machine steam wand never seemed to stop and the orders kept on coming in that Stanley missed her too.

Hope paused when they entered the room and looked around. "You work so hard to leave things in order so that when you return there can be a path to continue, unhinged from the space-time continuum." She turned to her daughter and smiled. "How is re-entry?"

Maura chuckled softly. "It as if I had done nothing at all to prepare."

"Did you enjoy yourself though?"

"Immensely."

"Doctor Death!" A gravely voice greeted from behind the two women. They turned to see a man in a ruffled suit with a thick five o'clock shadow and piercing blue eyes. He smiled at the two women taking a keen interest in Hope before looking back over to Maura. "How you doin'? I haven't seen you around in a bit."

Maura smiled. "Detective Becker It's nice to see you." She turned toward Hope. "This is Doctor Hope Martin, Doctor Martin this is Detective Becker, he and Jane were partners on the beat."

Becker chuckled at choice of words. "Nice to meet you." He looked between the two of them a moment more. "You guys sisters or something?"

Hope smiled knowingly. "No, but it is a compliment I will take. It is a pleasure to meet you, Detective."

"Please c'mon, call me Beck." He tossed a thumb over his shoulder from where he was just enjoying a coffee with one of his old colleagues. "Listen I saw you come in Doc and I was just leaving, you guys take my seat, it's getting pretty crowded in here."

Maura smiled appreciatively. "How thoughtful."

He shrugged sweetly. "Listen I know we're about to lose her to the baseball league with Boston Fire but you tell Rizzoli I still got her hockey stick in my trunk."

Maura nodded. "I will let her know she is being missed."

Becker smiled at the two and offered his lifted his coffee cup toward them as make shift hat tilt before heading back over to the corner of the café to gather his things.

"He seems very nice." Hope commented as they turned to face the line. She had not failed to notic her daughters celebrity. Since being greeted in the lobby she noted how others seemed to orient themselves to be out of her way as if she were royalty of sorts. It reminded her of Patrick's way with people though she decided it was probably best not to mention it.

"He is." Maura had always liked Anthony Becker. If ever he were at the Robber when she and Jane were he would send them drinks, and genuinely seemed to look out for Jane throughout the years and the different paths their careers took them. He had always been extremely respectful around her and she could honestly say it was a pleasure running into him from time to time. "Detective Becker works in narcotics for a neighboring precinct, he's a lovely man."

##

"We'll cover the south entrance, Rizzoli squared and Sergeant Detective Korsak flank to the north with Bravo." Cameron Davies stood squarely at the head of the small army of FBI agents and BPD officer alike as he broke down their plan for busting the shipping freight facility that Joseph Macon had somehow "forgotten" to file under buildings associated with the business. The early morning search of his condo yielded a blueprint tube with the building's schematics and architectural mockups for a second sub-basement that hadn't been listed anywhere in the city's zoning registry either.

After twenty-two minutes and forty-eight seconds in the interrogation box with Jane, Sal the union rep finally eluded to knowing about the building at all.

That was all the needed to get the go ahead to launch a full-on raid on the port side storage facility. One of Korsak's Southie CI's confirmed that a lot of movement was happening down there the last couple days and he was pretty sure it had something to do with the Fed's turning up the heat.

"—According to these blueprints there is also a third and fourth entrance here." Davies circled a southeasterly wall near the front of the building with a magic marker "—and here." He circled another wall nearby. "This one is a narrow staircase. If we are running into a building with multiple suspects my best guess is that one of them at some point will think exiting here will be a good idea."

"He wouldn't be wrong." Korsak nodded and motioned to the alley that fed the exit right out onto a gentrifying part of south Boston. "Leads right out to Crowson Avenue." He checked his watch. At this time of day there would be plenty of people walking down the main avenue coming from work on the nearby subway or meeting friends for drinks at one of the many hip cocktail bars.

"It's narrow too." Jane crossed her arms over her bullet proof vest. "I don't care how good you are, you don't have a clean line of sight coming out on the stairs."

Davies tapped the marker against the board at the stairwell. "That's exactly why I want tactical there. We can't afford to have a wild goose chase on our hands down a major street, but these guys whoever they are, are sleeping in a cell tonight." He nodded at the room. "Are you all comfortable with this plan?" Everyone nodded. "Good, let's mobilize in ten." Davies looked over to Jane and Korsak as the room became a buzz with activity. This was the closest lead they had in this case since the FBI arrived two weeks back and no one was letting it slip past them. "Are you ready?"

"You bet." Vince nodded before turning to Jane and Frankie who had just joined them. "Vests?" He checked their persons. "We don't know how many of them there are, but we do know how many we've found. I was reading on this pack mentality stuff and there is no way they are going down without a fight. No distractions."

Davies nodded and crossed his arms. "I have an agent surveilling the area now, he'll give us a lay of the land but Vince is right. Let's not hang out inside for too long."

Jane nodded and nudged her younger brother in the padded stomach. "You hear that?"

"Yeah yeah." Frankie nodded.

Davies nodded, it was hard not to feel excited, he understood the adrenaline rush but there was something to be said about participating in a team like this one. All his subordinates just did whatever he asked them to, there was hardly any real authentic communication. "We wrap by ten and the first round is on me." It was currently four thirty in the afternoon but once the action was complete and their unsubs were in custody there would be a CSU overhaul on evidence and he'd want to be there to supervise the intake of it all. Ten was a dream, they'd in actuality get down around midnight if they apprehended Macon and the rest of his associates, and even then they would not be able to sleep easy. The next day would be interviews, paperwork, media coverage, follow up interviews, the list went on and on.

Right now the focus was clear though. They were going to bring these men to justice.

##

"—It was remarkable, we have a very enthusiastic group of students currently in medical school. They had so much to say." Maura set her green tea down in its paper cup and smiled. She could taste the chemicals that were involved in the process of drying and preserving it and judging by the way the bridge of Hope's nose wrinkled she could tell that she could too. Neither woman complained though, the company of the other far out weighted the rather liberal use of theophylline.

Hope smiled. "Forensic pathology has sure come a long way. When I was young the frontier was in cardiovascular functions, we were no where near even considering medicine to be involved in the postmortem process." She took a sip of her tea. "Will they invite you back?"

Maura nodded surely having already received a similar email from the conference organizers. "As the president elect of New England Medical Officer's I am almost required to. I would have felt differently if it were not so convenient. New York was lovely."

"Did you manage to eat at Maconcini's new restaurant?"

Maura sighed and shook her head no. "Tasha and Jane vetoed it for Korean barbeque which did not disappoint."

Hope was in the middle of saying something when the elevators across the lobby visible by the clear glass that surrounded the café opened and several heavily armed tactical operation officers and federal agents filled the lobby. "Oh." Maura turned to see what she saw. "It seems something is happening?"

Maura instantly spotted Cameron Davies amongst them, and then Lieutenant Cavanagh, and Sergeant Detective Korsak. They all wore their bullet proof vests on the outside of their business clothes and were delegating the large operations into sections in the lobby. "It seems so." She scanned the crowd of familiar faces until she was able to locate Jane by her ponytail. She had not seen or spoken to the other woman all day save for a good morning text message from the detective. When she woke Jane was already gone and Maura's day had been filled with so much science she hadn't thought of her person outside of her profession at all, until now of course.

Jane was standing with her hands on her hips nodding at something Korsak was saying to her. It looked to be reprimanding in nature the way he motioned about but Maura knew their relationship was far too close for that to be the case. They were disagreeing. Jane nodded a few times and counter pointed whatever Vince was saying by motioning in the other direction. She was holding a walkie talkie in her left hand and using it as a pointer. Vince took a moment before shaking his head and pointing again in another direction. Jane's shoulders slacked some and she nodded before pivoting to find someone, Frankie. He was only a few feet away. It was when she pivoted though that she looked up and caught Maura's eye. She seemed a little surprised to see her but only for a moment. Her face returned vexed into focus as she shared whatever message Korsak had with Frankie before looking up again at her and tapping her brother lightly against the vest with the walkie talkie to excuse herself.

"There is Detective Rizzoli." Hope pointed. "My, this seems serious." She watched more geared up tactical officers empty into the lobby from another elevator.

Maura nodded as Jane made her way over to the café and to their table. Her whole posture seemed closed off, impenetrable almost. She was thinking about whatever they were about to do and was only here out of obligation, an obligation to her.

"Maura." She greeted before noticing Hope for the first time. "Dr. Martin."

"Detective Rizzoli." Hope greeted. "I would invite you to sit and join us but it seems you have places to be." She motioned to the crowded lobby beyond the café glass. "Is everything alright?"

Jane nodded simply before turning to the ME. "Can I talk to you?"

Maura nodded and stood. "You found them?" She asked quietly as Jane led her a few feet away from the table and out of earshot.

She nodded. "Yeah, Macon had another freight building that wasn't registered with zoning. We called the contractors, they said they never got a chance to finish the sub-basement floors."

Maura put two and two together quickly. "The soil we found under the victims' fingernails."

"We think so."

Maura studied her face a moment before nodding. You did not mount a response like this if the proper intel wasn't gathered that confirmed a dangerous situation was ahead of them. She knew she could not ask Jane to be safe or carful. She was always carful, seldom safe. So Maura tried offer the other woman a look of support even though for the first time in a while she felt the unease of uncertainty creep up her spine. Jane nodded once at the look before looking behind her at Hope who was not shy about being interested in their interaction. "You okay here?"

"Yes, we had plans." Maura reached out and fixed part of the detective's button-down collar that had gotten hooked under her vest.

"Alright." Jane gave the ME a soft expression for fussing over her appearance. As soft as she could with her mind pulling her to focus elsewhere. "I'll call you."

Maura watched her return to her team in the lobby before returning to her biological mother. "We've been working on a series of homicides recently." She explained distractedly as she watched the team begin to mobilize. Jane returned to Cameron Davies's side and she tried not to notice how pleased he seemed to have it that way. Maura returned her gaze to Hope. "It has all had us a little on edge."

"Jane especially it seems." Hope began to scrutinize the subtle shifts in her daughter's face.

Maura nodded. "She gets this way whenever…" She began to explain but stopped herself. She didn't want to talk about Jane anymore, if she did she would worry and that was exactly what the detective had essentially just asked her not to do in some many words. "Have you heard anything about it? The case?"

Hope nodded. "Those women in the park, yes, sometimes I catch a bit of news in the morning."

"I can not say too much on that matter."

"Of course." She watched Maura take one final look toward the gaggle of law enforcement a few feet away before adjusting her posture and examining her cup of tea. "You're worried about her well being." She finally read.

Maura hardly had the words to describe what was going on between them, thankfully that wasn't what Hope was asking. "Of course I do, she's my best friend."

##

"Janie!"

Jane's breath heaved up and down as shock tsunamied her system full of those feel good hormones Maura was always going on about. She could barely see out of dizziness at the flooding but her sense of smell and the taste of her own saliva hypersensitized. "I'm okay.." She told herself as she brought a somewhat shaky hand to her chest and fingered the hot piece of metal that was stuck right under the fourth buckling of her bullet proof vest. Jane exhaled and closed her eyes only for the briefest of moments to thank who ever was up there that made her target such a lousy shot. Frankie was by her side in seconds helping her up. Jane pushed him away gently as she got to her feet albeit a little wobbly. "I'm okay." She repeated.

"You sure—"

Jane nodded several times as her breath caught up to her. "The vest, it got the vest." She shrugged her brother off of her completely and motioned with her firearm. There was no time for care, now that she could confirm she was physically okay there was no way she was letting Macon get off that easily. "C'mon." She sunk her body back into a predatory stance and left Frankie no choice but to fall into formation behind her with his weapon drawn. His heart rivaling the pace of a runaway train as they heard shots fired elsewhere in the building.

Jane exhaled with every movement of her left foot and inhaled with every step of her right in order to safely lower the physical false alarm that was her bodies defenses. The door Macon had slipped down lead to a back room that smelt of stale urine and cardboard boxes. Jane lifted her hand behind her to stop Frankie in his tracks before pointing to the opposite side of the room. He began wordlessly stalking along the left wall while she took the right. If the blueprints they found in Macon's apartment were correct then they had him cornered. Thankfully the room was full of empty wooden shipping crates and old newspaper bundles so when Joe Macon glanced over his shoulder he was only able to make out Frankie shadow along the wall coming closer and not Jane's shrinking in proximity behind him.

Frankie glanced at his sister across the room and Jane nodded. They were too close to screw this up, he was willing to shoot and was running out of options fast. Desperation drove some of the ugliest actions in humanity.

"I know you're back there Macon, just give it up." Frankie called calmly although the sweat running down his chest and forehead symbolized differently. It was about ten degrees hotter in here than outside which made breathing a tricky matter, especially when the air smelt of a homeless person. "This where you held the girls, Joe?" With every syllable Jane edged closer to where Macon was squatted down gripping his pistol impatiently.

"You don't know a damn thing about me!"

"I think I do." Frankie glanced over at Jane who nodded shortly at him. If she were going to get any closer without getting shot in the face she needed to mask her steps with the sound of Frankie's voice. "You shot a cop back there, you might as well fill in the blanks if I'm missing anything."

Macon growled. "That bitch was on my heels, one less pig on the streets, what do you care?" He could take this guy right? As far as he knew the rest of the action was in the south end of the building. Maybe if he got the drop on this cop he could sneak out the side entrance and be on the Avenue in a matter of minutes. He just needed the right opportunity.

Frankie let up a small laugh as he edged closer so Macon could see him. "Pretty sure the same could be said about you, one less murderer, one less monster."

Macon brought his weapon up. "You step any closer and I blow your brains out kid." He flinched however when he could feel the cold metal of a gun barrel press gently against his shaved head at the back of his ear.

"Give me a reason to shoot you." Jane growled lowly behind him.

Macon tilted his head to look behind him at Jane's dark features. "Sure." He winked and before Jane could register him swinging his gun around to point it at her she skillfully adjusted her grip and shot him once in the arm. His gun fell to the ground with a heavy clank and Frankie was over the whining fugitive within milliseconds to kick it away and cover his sister. He quickly fought the struggling man to put him in handcuffs before calling for back up and naming their location in the building.

"Nice shot."

Jane blinked a few times and lowered her weapon before wiping the sweat from her nose with the back of her hand. The small patch of skin at her trigger finger itched. "He's not getting off that easy." She exhaled again and looked at her brother when they heard over the radio that the building was clear and two other men where in handcuffs downstairs. "Good job little brother."

Frankie let up a crooked smile before noticing the impression mark left on her vest. "You alright?"

Jane nodded several times the adrenalin from being shot and then shooting a man finally began leveling in burst through her veins, she felt like laughing, "Knocked me off my feet."

Frankie was grinning too. "Yeah I saw, I saw."

Jane looked down at Macon who was cursing loudly below them about his arm. "Let's get that pressed."

They leaned down to help Macon sit upright and address his bleeding arm. "Not a word to Ma about this." She mentioned as an afterthought. Jane's fingers covered with blood s she added the right amount of pressure to stop the bleeding. It was a superficial wound, but a messy one, his arm would be okay in the end. She nodded at the very real fear in Joe Macon's eyes. He was going to rot in prison for what he had done, but at least he was alive.