This chapter was rough to write. The first sentence is your warning. Skip it if you need to. Or skip to the end. Whatever's best for you, I guess?
Also, I'm so sorry for being the shittiest person in the universe and not updating for a million years. I went on tour with a DCI drum and bugle corps this summer (which means that from the end of May to the beginning of August, I lived on a bus, slept on high school gym floors, and spent 14+ hours a day on a football field running around and playing a euphonium. We made finals and it was incredible) so I wasn't able to update for a really long time. I'm also in my college marching band, which is crazy, just started coursework for my English major (I was originally only a French major), and started dating somebody.
But I'm back. And I plan to update regularly. If I don't, feel free to spam me with messages, form an angry mob outside my dorm, etc.

"It's a kid, Maura." Jane had let Maura drive them to the scene, for once, and was curled up in the passenger seat of the medical examiner's Prius. "We weren't fast enough, and he killed a kid."

For a moment, there was complete silence. Neither one wanted to justify their inability to catch the murderer they had been working themselves ragged to find, and Maura took a deep, ragged breath before speaking.

"We can't make any assumptions yet, you know that." Maura reached her hand out toward the detective, who gripped hers like a lifeline. "And don't blame yourself. It is impossible to catch a killer with this little evidence."

"I just… I don't know if it's the hormones, but I can't imagine losing my child," Jane's empty hand was clutching her abdomen protectively, and Maura could see tears beginning to streak down the detective's cheeks. "Damn it, I don't cry. I can't cry. Especially not now."

"I'm sorry to say that being overly emotional is common during the first trimester," Maura squeezed Jane's hand gently and kept herself from staring at the brunette as she wiped her tears away. "And crying is very normal for pregnant women. Let it out, Jane."

Maura felt her heart clench painfully as the usually tough-as-nails detective broke down in the seat next to her, and pulled over on the side of the highway.

"What are you doing?" Jane choked out through her sobs. Her eyes were bright red and glistening with tears, and Maura's heart ached painfully from just looking at her.

In one fluid motion, the medical examiner unclipped her seatbelt and reached over to pull the other woman into a tight hug.

"It's going to be okay," She soothed the slightly-hysterical woman by rubbing her back and pressing her lips to her temple. "You need to calm down, honey."

Oh crap. Honey? Where did that come from?

Thankfully, Jane seemed to have ignored the nickname and Maura breathed a sigh of relief.

"Thanks." The detective's arms had snaked around the smaller woman's waist and practically pulled her onto her lap. After a few moments, Maura, with great reluctance, extracted herself from the embrace and settled back in the drivers' seat.

"Here." The medical examiner opened the center console between the seats, rummaged around for a moment, and pulled out a pack of tissues with a triumphant smile. "Just in case you need to clean up a little before we get there."

Jane wordlessly took the proffered tissues and began blotting at her reddened eyes. Maura waited a few moments for the detective to get herself under control before putting the car in drive and continuing to the scene.

When they arrived, the area around the crime scene was once again flooded with reporters. Jane exited the Prius with her head held high, her badge in hand, and an emotionless expression plastered on her face. All signs of her recent emotional breakdown had disappeared completely, and the detective was focused solely on her job.

Maura grabbed her bag from the backseat and hurried after the taller woman, who had already reached the caution tape.

"Thank you," Maura murmured as Jane lifted the yellow tape and ushered the medical examiner through with a hand on her lower back. The honey-blonde turned to look up at the detective and a look of confusion crossed her features from the icy glare fixed on her face. "Jane?"

The detective's glare softened and her fingers pressed gently against the fabric of Maura's dress, urging her to move away from the sea of journalists and toward the body.

"Sorry." Jane mumbled. "I-"

"Don't apologize." Maura interrupted the taller woman and cast a reassuring look back over her shoulder. "We're both a little… tense right now. It's okay."

"It's not, but thanks anyway, Maur." Jane sighed softly. "Let's catch this son of a bitch."

Maura wordlessly led the way past the circle of white-faced beat cops toward Korsak, and the Lieutenant. Each detective's face looked haunted, as if they had been to hell and back again, and with one look at the body, Maura understood the source of their anguish.

"The victim is a young, Hispanic male, around- " The honey-blonde's voice cracked and she cleared her throat before continuing. "Around eight to ten years old. The bruises around his neck appear to be consistent with those inflicted on Carla Sigiorno, but I'll need to do a thorough comparison back at the morgue to be sure."

"Do we have an ID yet?" Jane rasped. Maura raised her eyes to look at the detective, and was surprised to see that the brightness that was usually present had disappeared completely. "Has CSU done a sweep? Do we have anything on this fucking-"

"Cool it, Rizzoli." Lieutenant Cavanaugh placed his hand on her shoulder and squeezed in warning. "The victim's name is Jason Martinez. He was nine years old and was last seen getting into a strange car after getting off the school bus in front of his house. We got a plate number and put an APB out on the car, but haven't heard anything back. And CSU did their sweep about twenty minutes ago. The only thing they found was a box of rubber gloves."

"Did you dust for prints?" Korsak asked hopefully. "'Cause the doc said that the killer wore rubber gloves when he strangled Carla Sigiorno."

"Didn't need to." Cavanaugh grunted. "The bastard left us a sealed container. Brand new."

"He's playing games with us," Jane growled. "Trying to make us break. Trying to make me break."

"This is not your fault, Detective Rizzoli, and if I hear even one word of self-blame out of your mouth, I'll have you on desk duty so fast your head'll spin." The lieutenant responded. Jane's mouth snapped shut and Maura, who had been paying little attention to the detectives' conversation, let out a gasp of surprise.

"Jane, look." She gestured to a few reddish-brown flecks of liquid in the dirt beside the body. "Our victim had no open wounds, but there were signs of a struggle. This must be from the killer!"

"That's my girl!" Jane rested her hand on Maura's shoulder and shot the smaller woman an appreciative smile. Maura beckoned one of the crime lab techs over to collect the samples, and the detectives sprang into action. Jane turned to Frost, who had just returned from the edge of the scene with a beat cop in tow. "Frost, any news from the cops canvassing the area?"

"You're gonna want to hear this." Frost gestured to the officer beside him to speak.

"We have a witness who saw the vehicle our potential suspect was driving leave the scene." The officer reported. "The witness's name is Josiah Hammond, and we found him sitting in a refrigerator box behind a dumpster at the entrance to the park."

"Bring him in for questioning." Jane ordered, and the officer responded with a curt nod. When she left, Jane turned back toward Frost. "We're gonna need any security cam footage you can get from anywhere around here."

"Done and done." Frost responded. His tablet was already open and in his hands, and his phone was to his ear in a flash.

"Jack-The lieutenant and I are going to inform the victim's family." Korsak spoke softly from behind her, and Jane whirled around to face her two superiors. "Are you sure?"

"No, but it needs to be done. We've got it." Cavanaugh replied.

"If you're done with the crime scene, I would like to begin the preparations to transport the body back to the morgue." Maura interjected, her eyes fixed on Jane. "I'll look for as many similarities as possible between the two victims after finishing the autopsy."

"Get your people on it." Cavanaugh ordered before Jane could open her mouth, and Maura immediately flagged down the crime techs once more. "Rizzoli, you head back to the precinct and get some information from our witness. We'll regroup back at the precinct later."

"Yes, sir."

The area, which had been morose and stagnant before Maura and Jane's arrival, was now full of activity. As each of the detectives exited to complete their various assignments, it seemed that more and more technicians and officers appeared out of the ether to gather the evidence and clear the scene.

"Hey, Maura?" Jane approached the honey-blonde, who was currently lecturing a CSU tech on how to properly dismantle the crime scene and move the body without destroying precious evidence, and tapped her on the shoulder.

"One moment, please." Maura held her finger out in the detective's direction and Jane, for once, stood quietly and listened to the smaller woman's instructions. "Anthony, it is extremely important that you follow the procedure I gave you explicitly. Do you understand?"

"Yes, Doctor Isles." The man in question looked to be around twenty years old and rolled his eyes at the medical examiner's request.

"Hey," Jane stepped forward, into Maura's vision, and bristled with annoyance. "This woman is the Chief Medical Examiner of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts and your superior. You will treat her with the respect she deserves and do exactly as she says, or I will personally make your life on the job a living hell. Do you want that, what was your name again, Tony?"

The man looked from the angry detective to the medical examiner, whose eyes were shining with something akin to pride, and gulped.

"No ma'am. I'm sorry, Doctor Isles. It won't happen again."

Before Maura could accept his apology, Jane spoke once more.

"It had better not. Go do your job, kid."

The man scurried off to assist in transporting the body, and Jane let out an annoyed huff. Maura, on the other hand, was trying to contain her amusement.

"What's so funny, Doctor?" Jane raised an eyebrow at the honey-blonde. Her lips were trembling with the effort of keeping her laughter at bay.

"He was terrified of you, Detective." She snorted, and Jane couldn't help but chuckle at how adorable she looked.

Wait, what?

"I was perfectly capable of handling the situation." Maura continued. "Anyway, what was it you needed?"

"We carpooled here," Jane said. "Do you need a ride back, or are you going in the bus?"

Maura glanced at the techs' painfully slow process of moving the body and sighed.

"For the sake of our evidence, I should probably go with these buffoons."

"Right." Jane felt a pang of disappointment in her chest and tried to keep it out of her voice. She shouldn't be upset that her friend was doing her job. She shouldn't need Maura by her side at every moment. Right?

"I'll begin the autopsy as soon as we return." Maura said. "Feel free to come down after you finish questioning the witness."

"There's no place I'd rather be." Jane joked. However, an unsettling feeling crept into her stomach when she realized how true her words actually were.

She would rather be spending time with Maura than doing literally anything else. Was that normal, to be so fixated on your best friend that-

"I'll see you later, then." Maura brushed past the detective and squeezed the taller woman's forearm as she passed by.

"See ya." Jane whispered to the air in front of her.

After a moment, she snapped out of her weird, trancelike state and practically sprinted back to the Prius.

They had leads and a murder to solve.

Her feelings would have to take a backseat, for now.