"Janie! You're gonna be late!" Angela called.

Jane groaned and pulled the covers over her head. It was her first day of work. She had finished high school earlier that year and although her dream was to go straight to the police academy, she found herself trying to earn some money at the old ballet school she was forced to attend when she was too young to protest. After a few minutes of enjoying the warmth of her bed, she rolled out of the sheets. On her way to the bathroom, she caught sight of herself in the mirror. Dark, unruly curls framed her face. She sighed, then continued getting ready. She was out the door ten minutes later.

Soon, Jane had arrived. She pushed through the old French doors and found herself in the hall. There was a long bench dotted with girly tote bags and street shoes arranged neatly under each bag. Just the way she'd left it ten years ago. Suddenly, Jane heard the sound of heels hammering the wooden floor.

"There you are, Jane! Come, come, the lesson is about to start!" Miss V called out with a clap of her hands. Jane smiled politely and followed her into the studio. It was a large clean room with shiny wooden floors and barres toward the back wall. A lovely parlor grand stood over to the right and Jane made her way towards her new work station.

Jane took a seat on the stool and acquainted herself with the ebony and the ivory.

"Let's begin, girl!" Miss V clapped twice. There was a flurry as twenty odd teenaged girls of varying heights and builds, but all with that perfect bun scurried to their positions at the barre. A few of them glanced at the new accompanist with questioning looks. Jane bowed her head and pretended to be focused on the keys. Miss V cleared her throat and Jane's head snapped up. She honestly did not know what to expect. Miss V demonstrated a sequence of moves while calling out the French words that Jane was sure she knew at one point her life. When Miss V finished with a flourish, she and the ballerinas all looked expectantly at Jane. When it was clear that Jane was clueless, Miss V glided over to her and explained that she had to improvise a simple melody to the tempo of what she had just danced. Jane nodded and played the first thing that came to her mind. It was eight bars long and to the tempo that Miss V had danced. Then she stopped. Again, everyone in the room looked at her expectantly.

"Repeat until I say stop, darling!" Miss V called. Jane blushed and a few girls snickered as she fumbled to remember what she had just played. The class continued like that. It was the longest two hours of Jane's life. All those snooty ballerinas must think she's mentally handicapped. By the end, she had gotten a bit more used to the whole idea, but she was still very grateful when Miss V clapped twice, signaling the end of the class. The ballerinas all rushed very gracefully out of the studio to hit the showers. Jane stayed back at piano. Miss V shot her an encouraging smile and Jane returned it as politely as she could, but she had already decided that she would not be huge fan of this job.

It was part of the agreement that Jane would be allowed to practice on the piano in the studio after the ballet lesson, as they no longer had the little upright piano in the Rizzoli house and Jane admittedly missed playing it. So, as soon as she was sure that all the ballerinas were out of earshot, she began to play. Her slender fingers danced across the keys and she could not suppress her smile. Although she would not admit this to her mother, Jane really loved playing. It sparked something deep inside. She was just about to lose herself in the piece when a voice interrupted her.

"Is that Bach's English Suite No.3?" a girl asked. Jane jumped. She hadn't expected anyone to be there, listening. She nodded and stopped played. She looked up to see who the voice belonged to.

It was a ballerina who looked to be about seventeen. Soft blonde curls reached her shoulder and her hazel eyes shone even from across the room. She was smiling radiantly. Jane's eyes wandered over her body in her tight leotard. Her amazingly defined breasts, her slender waist and wide hips… Jane suddenly realized that she was staring with her mouth wide open. As she regained her composure, the girl laughed. It was the most magical sound Jane that ever heard.

"Well, please don't stop playing. I love Bach!" the girl said. Jane took a deep breath and prayed she would not make any mistakes in front of this girl and then began again form the Prelude.

When Jane completed the piece, the girl who was now seated cross-legged on the floor to listen enthusiastically, applauded. Jane's cheeks flushed.

"Beautiful." the girl commented, so softly that Jane almost didn't hear her. Then she glanced at her watch and alarmed, exclaimed that she had to leave immediately. She ran out of the studio so fast that Jane didn't even get a chance to ask her name.

Jane sat for a moment more, reflecting on the day, when she realized that her mother was probably waiting on her too. She gathered her belongings and left.

"Well, Janie, how was your first day?" Angela inquired as Jane joined the family at the dinner table.

"Mm," Jane said, taking in the smell of her favorite dish, ravioli, "uh- it was alright, I guess." She said before chowing down. She, Frankie and Tommy were too busy eating to see the worried look exchanged between their Ma and Pa. Truth be told, they were worried about their Janie finding her place in the world. Angela opened her mouth to pry more about the new job, as she was genuinely concerned about her only daughter, but Frank touched her arm to stop her. He knew that if Jane wanted to say more, she would have.

The following Saturday morning, Jane was up and out of bed before Angela came to knock not so quietly on her door. To everyone's surprise, she was in a good mood as she rushed out of the house and headed to her second day on the job. She had worked on her improvising and she was determined not to make a fool of herself again in front of those ballerinas… especially the one who had listened so intently to her playing after class. She sat waiting impatiently at the piano for Miss V to start the lesson. When she finally did, Jane's eyes searched the rows of ballerinas at the barre to find that girl. Just as she locked eyes with those gleaming hazel ones, Miss V began demonstrating the steps so she had to look away and focus. The lesson was going well up until the first hour.

Jane had practically memorized the eight bar melody as she had to play it so many times. She decided to take a chance and look up. Her eyes instantly went to the spot where the girl was. Jane was in awe. She plied and pirouetted with such grace. The intense concentration was visible on her face as she knit her eyebrows during an arabesque. The corners of her mouth turned up in a slight smile as she completed the move successfully. The outline of her form was so exquisite as she moved with great agility. Suddenly, she stopped. So did everyone else. To Jane's horror, it was because she had stopped playing. Everyone in the room was staring at her, some glaring. Who knows for how long? Had they caught her lingering eyes?

"S-Sorry," Jane called. She wished the earth would just open up and swallow her whole right then and there. She kept her head bent for the rest of the class.

When the lesson was over and the girls had gone to the showers, Jane began to play one of Bach's preludes. She had gone over the sheet music for this one at home, just in case the Bach-loving ballerina decided to stop in for a listen again. To Jane's disappointment, she was alone in the studio. After she had finished Mozart's Requiem, she discovered that there were tears in her eyes. She shrugged it off as being moved by the music, but deep down, she knew that a part of her was really looking forward to having the one-person audience again. She could not believe that it had actually caused her to shed a tear. Embarrassed, she made her way to the showers.

She did not think that anybody would be left since a whole hour had passed since the lesson finished, but sure enough, one of the showers was still running. Jane bypassed it on her way to the sink. She bent over and splashed the cool water over her face. With the noise of the sink, she did not notice that the shower had stopped running. Jane raised her head and dried her eyes before slowly opening them. She nearly jumped when she saw someone in the mirror, standing directly behind her.

It was the girl. Clad in nothing but a towel. Jane could see her skin glistening and droplets of water dripped down her neck, her shoulder and into her cleavage that was unfortunately totally hidden.

"Uh.. hi there" Jane said, "You uh, gave me a little scare" she chuckled weakly. Why did this girl make her so nervous?

"Oh, did I? I'm terribly sorry." The girl replied. She walked over to the bench and turned her back and shed her towel. Jane stifled a gasp.

"I'm Maura, by the way. Maura Isles." The girl said as she pulled on a pair of silky panties that Jane was sure cost more than her entire outfit. Jane could not believe this girl's- Maura's confidence… being totally naked in front of this girl she barely knew. It must be a ballerina thing- Jane guessed that they were used to changing in front of each other. Well, she wasn't complaining. Maura had already slipped into a sundress and pulled her wet hair out of the way, when Jane realized that she hadn't replied.

"I'm Jane" she managed to get out.

"I know" Maura said she turned around, looking Jane directly in the eye. With that, she turned and left. As the she heard the French doors close, Jane was snapped out of her trance-like state and decided to head home herself.

A/N: Hi, tell me if you want me to continue! I don't intend for this to be a one-shot. I was thinking maybe a 20 chapter long fic. Disclaimer- I know nothing about ballet or being an accompanist, although I do play piano myself so forgive me for any mistakes and feel free to review and correct me. Hope you enjoy!