Chapter 2

Jane was met with a raspy, squealing voice calling her name through the main lobby as she stepped off the elevator, capturing the attention of a few uniformed officers walking by on break. A red-cheeked older woman came charging towards her and enveloped Jane's entire body in a large hug. The uniformed officers shared amused chuckles over their snacks as they watched the moment unfold nearby.

Jane's cheeks flushed immediately. "Ma, stop it!" She wriggled free of her mother's grip, quickly adjusting her ruffled shirt and jacket. Few things were more unbearable to her as an adult than receiving affection from her mother, especially in front of her coworkers.

Mrs. Rizzoli pouted childishly. "I'm allowed to hug my daughter whenever I want," She declared proudly in her thick Boston accent. Jane believed she had successfully avoided inheriting her mother's accent, an act of youthful rebellion that Jane prided herself on. However, Maura often reminded Jane that self-denial was not healthy.

Locked on with a death grip, Jane's mother led her by the elbow to the cafe. "You look awful, come. I made you some fresh coffee."

"Ma, I gotta go see Sarg. I'm getting released today and I need to…" Jane attempted to escape.

"Jane. Fresh. Coffee." Her mother stated firmly. Jane sighed, considering her option to disappear onto the next elevator, but between her mother's strong grip and the growing number of eyes watching this interaction, Jane dropped her shoulders in defeat and followed her mother to the counter in hopes to quell the attention her mother was continuing to gather. Besides, her mother's coffee wasn't all that bad, and maybe it's exactly what she needed before heading upstairs.

The station cafe was bustling with chaos this morning and was anything but calming for Jane. With the marathon approaching, and the anticipation for more crime in the city, the station had increased its number of on duty officers throughout the day. A steady stream of uniformed officers, plain clothed desk workers, detectives, and lawyers darted every which way generating a low hum of noise that seeped through Jane to her bones. The staff behind the counter, with the exception of her mother, looked dark eyed and frazzled as they managed to work quickly against the growing line at the counter.

The rain from outside had darkened the small cafe, making it feel especially claustrophobic and damp as Jane approached the counter. She could smell the wetness on the officers who'd patrolled the streets through the night and were now seeking a dry and warm refuge. Each time the exterior door opened to let in another umbrella hooded person, Jane felt the cold shiver of the outside run down her back. Any wrong move and she would be shoulder to shoulder with a cop or lawyer who was antsy to move along with their day. Jane's mother had no intention of helping them along at this moment.

"Ma, help your customers before you help me." Jane urged her. Smiling apologetically at the line of angry faces who were staring her down impatiently.

Mrs. Rizzoli waved her off. "They might be less upset if they knew my daughter, Detective Jane Rizzoli, was responsible for the arrest of that serial killer." She yelled out louder the longer she spoke and eyed her angry customers with her own disappointed frown.

"Oh my god, Ma!" Jane grinned nervously and quickly grabbed the cup of coffee from her mother. She could see the tension as they glanced repeatedly at their phones and watches. A few muttered complaints landed in Jane's ears and she mouthed a sorry to them all, but they only glared harder, spiking Jane's anxiety.

"What? Am I not allowed to be a proud mother?"

Jane sighed. "You know you are not allowed to be a proud mother while I'm at work. At home… even still no. At work," the line was growing. "Ugh, Ma just serve your customers, I have to go." Jane fled from the scene with her coffee in hand. Not even bothering to stop and grab two sugars before sliding smoothly onto the next available elevator.

"Love you Janie! Have a good day!" Her mother waved dramatically before turning her attention to her fuming customers. "Okay, for crying out loud…" Her mother's voice trailed off.

Jane believed that the majority of her time here at the station was spent in this elevator. When she was alone it wasn't bad. When she was with Maura, it also wasn't bad. But neither of those were true at the moment. She was stuck in the back with her un-sugared coffee while uniformed officers and secretaries exited and entered at every floor. The department wasn't a large building, but today, the day she was finally being released back to the field, it may as well have been a 40 story high rise and she was headed for the top.

When she stepped onto her floor lobby, Jane was met with the familiar buzz of busy detectives and the lingering scent of cologne and sweat. It was a sensory reminder of the routine she missed over the last nine weeks. Everything looked the same—the cluttered desks, the bulletin board plastered with case notes and photos, the soft hum of lively morning discussion, and the news reporters blaring from the TV in the break room.

"There she is!" Frost and Korsak met her with a smile when she rounded the corner to their small cluster of desks. She couldn't help but return the friendly smile, and the anxiety that had built on her journey to the office had subsided at the sight of her coworkers and friends. As the men had admitted over countless beers leading up to this moment, the office clump just wasn't the same without Jane. And as Jane would never publicly admit, she was not the same without them.

She settled into her chair, the familiar creak of the old, overused leather bringing a surprising comfort.

"Between Korsak's stained shirts and Sarg's bad mood, I was about to retire for good until I found out you were finally being released." Frost leaned back in his chair casually.

Korsak frowned at Frost childishly. "We left your desk exactly the way you left it." He assured Jane confidently.

Jane's eyes immediately fell on the small ivy she had growing behind her computer. She picked it up and watched a dry, dead leaf fall from the stem, the rest of it looking like a bare breath would disintegrate it into dust. She eyed the men playfully, the plant slumping heavily into her trash can with a profound thump. "Gee, thanks." Jane enjoyed the uneasiness on the boys' faces.

Frost and Korsak side-eyed each other. "I honestly had no idea that was even there." Frost admitted.

Jane eyed her empty sargeants office and took the opportunity to turn in her release paperwork without discussion. When she returned, her mind instantly drifted to the boards littered with fresh information of their new victim. Frost and Korsak had done quite a bit of work this morning during her last session and escapade in the cafe. All the more reason to admire her team even more.

Frost and Korsak had been part of her team for years now. Frost has been her only partner since she joined the homicide division. He had been promoted about a year after Jane, and he was the only one young enough and eager enough to not care that he was partnered with a woman. Korsak was never one of "those" guys who prided himself in being part of the in-crowd. He was too nice. So, he quickly jumped at the chance to be a part of something new. Despite being in the 21st century, there was still a good old boys club that Jane knew she would never be allowed into, and she didn't care to be let in. She was going to be the future of this department whether they liked it or not, and she secretly liked how it pissed them off to admit she was better than they had ever been or would ever be. And while she credits herself with her effort to make a name for herself in the academy and as a uniformed officer, she wouldn't know the success she knows now without Frost and Korsak.

"What did we get from this morning?" Jane reclined in her chair to see the scope of both the corkboard that Korsak liked to work on, and the digital monitor that Frost prided himself on.

The boys quickly gathered their thoughts. Frost dropped a thin red folder on her desk in front of her and pulled up some info on his digital screen. "Is this print large enough for you, Korsak?"

"Puh." Korsak frowned as he scooted his chair closer.

Frost smiled and turned his attention back to the screen. "Young female was found at the edge of Millenium Park early this morning by a landscaping company." Frost started. "One of the workers flagged down a patrol vehicle nearby and the officer called it in."

Jane flipped through the thin file in her hands. She frowned as she read the little information that could be gathered so far in the folder. A thin file meant not much had been discovered, and meant they might be in for a rough case. She fingered through the original police report taken by the responding officer. Good start, but she wished she had more. Uniformed officers don't always know what questions to ask and Jane could tell this guy wasn't prepared to question someone about a dead body on his shift this morning. It wasn't the worst start, but they had work to do nonetheless. Case #2745.

The pictures taken of the scene were like many Jane had seen in her career. She scanned both the hard copy photos and digital ones that popped up as Frost spoke and flipped through them. His voice gently faded away from her attention. Her thoughts wandered to the scene she was painting in her mind, imagining the investigators carefully weeding through the brush for evidence, Maura examining the body, Frost and Korsak taking pictures, and this poor dead girl laying out in the middle of it all. Jane should have been there. Should have seen her first-hand, guided the other detectives in collecting evidence, noticing the things they would never notice. But instead, she allowed him to get to her. Allowed him to take away her purpose, take away her passion for protecting the innocent lives taken by psychopaths.

Frost's voice suddenly sucked her back into reality. "The woman was naked, her body laid in no particular way it seemed. No clothing near the body. Markings on her wrists, ankles, and bruising on her neck consistent with her possibly being tied up or strangled. There were these shallow cuts on her side following her ribs, kind of looked like fins to me, but Dr. Isles couldn't confirm what they were from. We'll know more when she's done with the autopsy." When Frost stopped at a picture of the girl's face a cold shiver ran down Jane's spine. It was pale, her eyes washed out of all life, her mouth wide open and slanted toward the ground. Jane leaned into the pictures as Frost clicked through a few more.

Korsak jumped into the conversation. "Officers on the scene walked the area around the body and the surrounding neighborhood, but no one seemed to know her, or anything about her, or saw anything suspicious. Nobody saw a vehicle, heard anyone struggling, and officers didn't find any footprints or markings that would indicate another person was even there. It's like she fell from the sky."

"She doesn't seem to be from the area." Frost continued, frowning at Korsak's imaginative explanation. "No one questioned seemed like they knew of any missing girls."

"Wait. Go back." Jane interrupted, her eyes narrowing on the digital board. Frost clicked back a slide. "Again." Jane leaned forward, scrutinizing the image.

"What do you see, Jane?" Korsak asked, adjusting his posture to try and see what she was focused on.

The picture was an angled shot of the victim's left side. Her head was facing away from the camera and her long smooth, pale arm laid next to her side and her left knee positioned just above her hand casting a shadow on most of her fingers. There in the shadows of the victim's knee, Jane could just make out on the backhand side of her pinky finger the dark lines of a possible tattoo. "Zoom in there." Jane pointed. The three of them cocked their heads to the side trying to gauge the grainy symbols.

"Looks like a tattoo. Is that a '2'?" Korsak positioned his glasses on the edge of his nose, squinting hard to see it.

"Do you have a closer picture?" Jane asked again.

Frost scrolled quickly and pulled up a clear picture of the tattoo on the victim's hand.

"1 of 2." Jane read aloud, leaning back in her chair. She was never one to judge anyone's taste in ink, in fact, sometimes they made her job a little easier. Families could identify bodies and detectives could identify victims and perpetrators. This tattoo might be a key they need for this case.

"Could be nothing. Hard to tell any kind of meaning behind tattoos these days." Frost commented.

Korsak grunted. "Regardless, if she's got the '2'… there at least has to be a '1' right? A sibling, a parent, a best friend." He thought out loud.

"Korsak's right." Jane rose from her seat, semi-lost in thought. "Has Maura already started on this body?" Jane asked, quickly gathering her things.

"There's a chance," Frost replied. "But a couple of other bodies from outside the district came in at the same time. Dr. Isles has her hands full this morning."

Jane paused, her eyes fixed on the now zoomed-out photo of the girl's whole body. Blonde hair, once blue eyes. Rebecca. Jane clutched her chest as Rebecca's voice echoed in her mind, her temples throbbing. She gripped the edge of her desk until her knuckles went white.

"Janie, you good?" Korsak asked gently, placing a soft hand on her shoulder.

Jane sucked in a deep breath and quickly masked her moment of weakness with a deflecting question. "Did you guys find anything around the body? Anything to clue us in to how she got here?"

The men exchanged nervous glances. "Nope." Korsak answered. "No drag marks, no footprints, no unusual tire marks. Nothing."

"Maybe she did fall from the sky." Jane mumbled. "Text me the address, I'll meet you guys back at the scene after I go see Maura. Maybe with some luck she's examined the body and we can have a direction on what to look for." Jane looked at the photo one last time. "What's behind those trees?"

"More trees." Korsak answered bluntly.

"Let's check those out when we get there. Looks like a good place to hide evidence." Jane slapped the file shut on her desk and quickly headed out of the room.

"Yeah, for sure. I'll text you and we'll meet you there." Frost said, his words barely making it out before Jane was gone. The men shared another worried glance.

"Maybe she's just feeling rusty on her first day back?" Frost suggested, trying to explain Jane's hesitations.

Korsak waved him away. "Jane? Rusty?" he scoffed. "She'll be fine. She's tougher than both of us combined."

Frost frowned. "That's what worries me."

Jane swallowed the urge to throw up as she entered the elevator. She wished it was because of something mundane, like food poisoning or even pregnancy. But the pictures of the victim and the trembling in her hands revealed the real reason she'd been sent to Dr. Chen—and what Dr. Chen had warned her about that morning. "...eventually you run out of compartments."

Jane took a deep breath before pushing the double doors open to Maura's lab. The room was quiet and cold, not much different than outside today. Two bodies lay covered in white linen sheets, with another, a male victim, exposed from the waist up. Maura was nowhere to be found.

Jane nervously spun her engagement ring, a habit she'd developed to calm her nerves. She never felt at ease down here. Even during the early years when she was captivated by a beautiful medical examiner, it always took most of her courage to visit the lab. Autopsy didn't make her queasy, in fact she found interest and challenge in looking at another human body, and she found it fascinating what you could learn about a person from the inside out. And, it was part of the job she had to accept a long time ago, but it still didn't make it any more comfortable. However, since Frost usually couldn't handle coming down here without getting sick, she usually took one for the team.

Today seemed harder than ever. She spun her ring faster, not expecting to be triggered by her team's work so early in her return. Nevertheless, she felt it was hitting her like a freight train. She had the urge to go back to Dr. Chen and admit she wasn't ready, admit she still needed to talk about things, admit she was not over Rebecca and she wasn't sure if she'd ever be.

Thunk!

A door in the hallway across from the autopsy lab slammed shut, jolting Jane from her racing mind. She forced herself to focus. The cool metal of her ring was a small anchor, something to keep her grounded. Falling apart now wasn't an option—not here, not in front of Maura or anyone else for that matter—dead or alive.

She steeled herself and moved further into the lab, approaching the two covered bodies. Lifting the tags, she checked their information: one male in his late 40's, the other a female, much older than their victim. She sighed in frustration. Then, she noticed a small light coming from Maura's office. She poked her head in, hoping to find her fiance buried in studies or typing up notes on her computer. But the office was empty. The white screen of Maura's computer illuminated the space.

Jane walked over to Maura's seat, her steps slow and deliberate. The subtle scent of Maura's perfume lingered in the air. It was faint, as Maura avoided strong scents in the lab, but on days when she didn't expect to work directly with bodies, she allowed herself a small indulgence. The fragrance was a comforting reminder of her presence.

Jane's eyes focused on the open laptop. Notes were pulled up in the corner of the screen, likely Maura's transcriptions from the previous day's autopsy. Jane scanned the dates of the notes, hoping to find something from this morning, but nothing seemed to match the victim's time of entry. She clicked her tongue in disappointment. Frost told her the body was here. It wouldn't make sense for it to be anywhere else at this point but perhaps Maura just hadn't had time to process it and check it in yet. With Jane's luck it was in the many storage freezers in the back. Jane wasn't allowed back there—her own rule—not Maura's.

Taking an opportunity to relax, Jane sank into Maura's chair. Her phone pinged with a message.

77 Leah Ave.

ETA 30 min

Jane sighed, clicked over to Maura's name, and typed a message. Before she hit send, she glanced up at Maura's computer, hoping to find the right words typed across the screen somewhere. How would she play this one? Would she tell Maura the truth? That she wanted to see her so badly, to love her so fully? Or admit something had wedged between them? It could be The Ripper. It could have been Rebecca. It could be that she no longer feels capable of protecting her from the terrible, awful people in this world, and it gnawed at her inside.

Came by to see a body, you must be busy. Headed to Millenium Park.

She wanted to finish the text with an "I love you," like she used to when they were young, and it was easy. But she was afraid those words would finally break down the wall Dr. Chen had worked so hard to unsuccessfully dismantle. It would mean they'd have to talk about things openly. Jane didn't want to talk about things. She didn't want Maura to know she was scared.

Jane's attention suddenly focused on Maura's home screen. She leaned forward, squinting to read the small white letters under a blue folder in the bottom corner of the screen. The white letters read, "Jane."

Jane's heart pounded heavily. What would Maura be keeping in a folder with Jane's name on it? It could just be pictures, maybe something for their wedding. It could be anything. She feared what she might find if she looked. She could never invade Maura's privacy. That was a trust they shared from early on in their relationship. A trust Jane would never compromise, even in her weakest moments.

"Jane?"

Jane shot up from Maura's chair at the sound of her fiance's voice back in the lab. In a panic, Jane slammed the computer shut and practically sprinted from the office to meet her.

"Jane?" Maura's voice rang out again, closer this time.

"Here," Jane called, coming around the corner. "Sorry, I was seeing if you had some water in your fridge."

Maura smirked at Jane's obvious uneasiness. "Jane, you don't have to apologize for that. You do know you are my fiance, right? You can get whatever you'd like from my fridge whenever you'd like." Maura walked toward her calmly, planted a quick kiss on her lips, and then disappeared into her office. Jane followed nervously.

"I, uh, also came to see if you'd had time to check out a body that came in this morning. She wasn't out there," Jane awkwardly waved her hand behind her. "So I figured maybe you hadn't." All she could see was that folder on Maura's computer. What could be in it? Her thoughts raced..

"The Jane Doe from Millenium Park?" Maura asked, rifling through her papers on her desk.

"Yeah." Jane answered quickly.

Maura placed her glasses gently on her nose, a look that Jane always found very attractive. "Yes, I checked her in at 9:37 this morning. I can start the autopsy now if you'd like?" Maura looked up over her glasses, frowning as she took in Jane's appearance. Jane's usual confidence seemed absent; her shoulders were slumped, her eyes red with dark circles forming underneath.

"No, no." Jane said, sweating profusely. "It's okay, I have to go meet Korsak and Frost at the scene. Just wanted to check in case you had more information before I left."

"Can I make you some coffee? To go?" Maura offered, knowing Jane rarely, if ever, turned down caffeine. "I'm not always supportive of blocking cortisol receptors in the brain so late in the morning, but perhaps your first day back requires celebration." Maura pushed the power button on her Keurig which whirred to life.

"No, really, I'm fine. I have a cup from Ma. I don't want to be late helping Frost and Korsak. Just wanted to check on the body." Jane squeezed her hands together feeling the stickiness of them. Her mind raced, her thoughts disjointed and scattered.

"I'm sorry, Jane. I was pulled into a last-minute meeting, I wish I had something for you." Maura said apologetically. "Do you need anything specific? I can fast-track whatever you need." She set her glasses down and removed her jacket, revealing her shoulders and a fuchsia pink blouse underneath.

"A name would be nice." Jane admitted, her eyes unable to pull away from Maura's curves which were quickly hidden again by her long white coat.

Maura snickered. "Okay, Captain Obvious. I can get that to you within the hour." She looked at Jane a little too long before taking a few steps toward her, leaving a respectable distance between them. Distance had become their new normal, and Maura hated every inch of it. "How was your meeting with Dr. Chen this morning? You left the house early." Maura hesitated, then turned back to her coffee as it sputtered its last bit into her cup.

Jane swallowed hard. "Sorry, did I wake you up?" Jane leaned against the doorway trying to relax. "I tried to be quiet." She crossed her arms across her stomach, the cold chill of the morgue seeping through her pores.

"No, I was already kind of awake. But you didn't answer my question." Maura grinned.

Jane hated that Maura knew all of her tricks. After three years of dating and finally deciding to marry one of the most intelligent women in Boston, there wasn't much Jane could get past Maura. Deflecting questions wasn't really a tough trick to figure out, but it had gotten Jane out of most uncomfortable situations, especially with her mother. Jane hated how uncomfortable she was in her fiance's presence at this moment.

"It went fine." Jane shrugged her shoulders. "Dr. Chen thinks I'm ready to be back, so here I am." She attempted a casual smile, but it was nothing short of forced.

Maura's eyes softened as she sipped her coffee, hearing the shell of emotion from her fiance. It hurt Maura to see Jane like this. "Okay," Maura started. "You don't have to tell me if you don't want to." She raised an eyebrow and smirked.

Jane sighed, knowing she wasn't going to get out of this one so easily. "She told me to continue seeing her even though she cleared me. It was more of a recommendation rather than an order though, so I don't know." Her voice seemed deeper than normal. Maybe it was the exhaustion.

Maura paused in thought. "Are you going to see her again?"

Jane hadn't decided yet, though after this morning's reaction to this new victim, she wondered if the doctor had been right. If she wanted to survive this job, this marriage, Dr. Chen may be her only answer. "You think I should?"

Maura set her coffee down gently, crossing her hands in front of her thighs. "Jane, it's not my place to tell you what you need. As your soon-to-be wife, I'm obligated to support you in whatever decision you make and I'm going to be by your side through it. You can't make me run away from this, Jane Rizzoli. I would have broken out in hives when I agreed to marry you if I didn't mean it." Maura's tone was so matter-of-fact that she almost wanted to believe it all. If Maura only knew the half of it.

"Well, what if I don't feel like I need it?" Jane said, rubbing the burning from her eyes.

"Then… I'll support you."

Jane wanted to hear the hesitation in her voice.

Maura's office phone blasted out and she picked it up after the first ring. "Dr. Isles. Yes. Yes, I can get that… Okay. I'll send that data to you right now…"

Jane longed for her relationship with Maura to be everything but cold; she wanted it to be warm, open, inviting, and effortless. She yearned for a marriage that was free and light, where they could be honest without fear and supportive without obligation. Jane dreamed of a fairytale. Yet, she struggled with the fear that such a perfect, unburdened love was out of reach, that their demanding jobs and her past traumas would cast a shadow over their happiness. Jane couldn't shake the nagging doubt that Maura deserved better than her broken shell, and she questioned whether she was pulling Maura into something far worse than if they'd never been together at all.

Maura hung up the phone in a huff and scribbled some notes on a pad near her computer.

"Duty calls." Jane spoke before Maura could continue her questioning. "I, uh, gotta get to Millenium Park I guess before Korsak and Frost create another murder scene." Jane motioned toward the office door.

Before Jane could disappear, Maura called back. "Hey," she rounded her desk and clicked her heels quickly over to Jane, grabbing one of her hands. "Do you want to have dinner tonight?" Maura asked, a tinge of nervousness in her voice.

Jane snorted. "Like we do every night?"

"No, I mean a nice dinner. I get dressed up, you get dressed up. I'll order from our favorite restaurant."

The side of Jane's lip rose. "Dr. Isles, are you asking me out on a date?"

"That depends, Detective Rizzoli, on if you will accept. And, I'd like to talk to you about something." Maura smiled innocently.

Jane's brain suddenly flashed to the computer folder. Her smile faded, and she straightened a little bit. "Uh, yeah. Yes. I would love to have dinner with you."

"Great! 7:00?"

"7:00." Jane forced a thin smile.

"Jane! JANE!"

Jane's chest tightened, her breath coming in ragged gasps. She felt the branches beneath her knees and hands, her finger grappling for something to steady herself. The dead leaves and branches crumbled in her grip as her knuckles turned white. Every muscle shook as her whole body had gone into shock. A wave of nausea hit her stomach, and she wrenched forward, but nothing came up.

"Jane, what happened?"

Her eyes blurred with tears, and she saw a puddle of blood pooling beneath her hand, staining the dried leaves. She tried to focus on Frost's voice, but it was faint, drowned out by the pounding in her ears.

"Jane. What happened? God, what happened to her hand?"

"She must have fallen. Help me." Her body became weightless, her arms lifted up and wide over two men's shoulders.

"Wait," she whispered, trying to look back, but she saw nothing but brush. No girl, no teddy bear, no Rebecca.

"Jane, you need stitches, come on."

"Frost?"

"Yeah, Rizzoli, I'm here."