Set post 7x13 Ocean Frank.
Jane has been living in DC for a while, but life is about to take a sharp turn.
This story begins with tragedy, and heavy despair triggered by guilty. Then it evolves to become Rizzles.
If it is NOT your cup of tea, don't continue reading, you have been warned.
ALERT: if you have not watched the show yet, there might be spoilers – I use references to things that happened across all seasons.
DISCLAIMER: I do not own Rizzoli & Isles nor any of the characters from the show. I am writing this purely for entertainment, not profit. Rizzoli and Isles are property of Tess Gerritsen and TNT.
I am not a native English speaker, and I don't have a beta. So all mistakes are 100% mine.
Enough of disclaimers and warnings – read at your own risk. Reviews are always welcome.
Chapter 1
"Jane?"
"Frankie, I am teaching classes, I cannot talk right now…" Jane answered irritated. Her phone had been ringing insistently with Frankie's number, despite it being a working day and during working hours. She finally picked it up while the cadets were walking out of the room, waving people out.
"Jane, it is urgent. It is about Ma…" Frankie's voice was strangled, and that finally got Jane's attention.
"What about Ma, Frankie? What happened? I thought she was in a road trip with Ron…" Jane's concern filtered in her voice.
"She was, Jane… But they were involved in a car accident. A truck crashed head on with their car…"
"Oh God…" Jane sat heavily. "How are they, Frankie?"
"They didn't make it, Jane…" Frankie sighed, his voice breaking.
"No no no… Are you sure about that, Frankie?" Jane asked in disbelief, her voice breaking too.
"I am, Jane. I was notified half an hour ago, and I have been trying to reach out to you…"
"I am on my way."
Jane dispensed the next class, advised her superior, placed a bereavement leave, and got a seat on the earliest flight available from DC to Boston.
She began dialing Maura, but thought better about it. Maura was in California for a confidential case – a ME had been brutally murdered – and Maura had been mightily distracted with it. There was nothing Maura could do. Jane would let her know as soon as she knew more details about the funeral, and when she had more information herself.
Jane sighed as the plane took off. Jane had been the one incentivizing Angela to go on the road trip. Frankie and Tommy had been against it, trying to convince her to fly with Ron instead. Even Angela had been on the fence. But Jane loved road trips, and she made sure her mother saw the advantages and benefits of it. Jane shook her head and leaned it against the plane window, tears washing her face. If only she had not incentivized her Ma… Maybe she could be still alive…
Jane landed in Boston, and called Frankie, and took a cab to meet him at the funeral home. He hugged her, crying, and she sobbed. Together they made the decisions about the funeral, both numbed by the pain. Considering the transportation and preparation of the body from the state where the accident had happened, they set it up for three days ahead.
"I told Pop and Tommy…"
Their father was still living in Florida, and Tommy had moved with TJ to Florida as well to be closer to his father.
"I didn't tell Maura yet…"
"Makes sense… She is on that confidential case for the California serial killer… I haven't seen her this distracted for a long time…"
"Yes, having one of her former colleagues as a victim was a big shake up for her. But I will let her know closer to the time, not to distract her even further."
Frankie sent the details about the times and location for Tommy and their father.
Frankie drove Jane to Maura's house.
"Are you sure it is a good idea for you to stay here, alone? You could go home with Nina and I…" Frankie tried.
"Thank you, Frankie, I need some time to digest this…"
Jane steeled herself to go through the guesthouse to choose an outfit the funeral home could use for her mom. It was a punch to her stomach to enter the empty house, knowing it would be forever empty. No more echoing of Angela's booming voice or musical laughter. No more smells of Angela's Italian homemade food. Jane slid sobbing to the floor, hugging her knees under her chin, and cried bitterly.
What if she had never influenced her mom to go?
It was a long while later that Jane forced herself to stand up, and to diligently check her mother's clothes, the ones she had not taken on the trip, to choose one for the funeral. It felt surreal to have to do something like that. But it had to be done.
Jane took a cab and left the clothes and the shoes on the funeral home, before heading to the church…
After some back and forth with Frankie in the next day, they decided on a service without the casket in church, and the viewing on the funeral home before the burial. It should give time for the Rizzoli's from all over the northeast to get to Boston to attend it. It should also give time enough for Frank and Tommy to get there.
"Did you speak to Maura?" Frankie asked. He knew Maura considered Angela like a mother, and Angela treated Maura as a daughter.
"Not yet. But she is coming back in time. She sent me a text earlier today that her flight back will land in Boston overnight before the burial. I asked her to call me as soon as she reached the airport to leave for her flight, and I will tell her then, so she has the long flight time to process the news…" Jane offered, tiredly.
Frankie nodded, observing his sister.
"Jane… have you been eating? Sleeping?" He had noticed the pronounced dark circles under her eyes, and the jittery movements that he recognized from the past cases where she would go days and nights in a row without proper food or rest.
"I am fine, Frankie, don't worry about me." Jane dismissed his concern.
No, she was not eating, or sleeping, her throat continuously strangled with a knot she could not quite undo. But there was nothing Frankie could do about it, so he didn't need to know.
Time elapsed in odd ways, warped by grief.
As if all of a sudden, Jane and Frankie found themselves in the middle of the church service. Their father and Tommy were not there, but a ton of family both from their mom side and from their father side were.
Angela would have enjoyed the church service, Jane thought. Between she and Frankie, they had asked for the specific choir music their mom appreciated. And the priest was very praising of Angela's faith and her ever present collaboration with the church over time.
And for the first time, the loss felt real for Jane. It was not that she had been in denial until now. But since she had not yet seen the body, it was only now in church, with people crying and praising her mother's memory, reality seemed to hit Jane like a freight train.
Relatives kept asking what happened and how it happened as they congregated outside, waiting for transportation to the funeral home.
"But Angela hated road trips…" Jane lost count of how many times she had heard that sentence. It was making her sick.
She walked a few steps away from the crowd, and discreetly found a bush to empty her stomach. Not that she had anything to throw up, just water and bitter bile. She had not eaten in the past days at all.
"Jane…" she felt Frankie's protective hand on the small of her back. "You know this was not your fault, don't you?"
"Wasn't it, Frankie?" Jane just shook her head, cleaning up her mouth with the back of her hand. "We should head to the funeral home." And Jane walked away from him.
