The Language of Love.

By CrackdownDraco.

This story came about from a request I received in a PM from Annajadekin.

Many thanks for the prompt. I hope this first chapter will do as a start.

Disclaimers: As always the characters of Rizzoli and Isles do not belong to me. This work is not for profit, only fun, and I promise to return the ladies and all their known associates safe and sound once they've been out to play. The characters Rizzoli and Isles and friends that Tess Gerritsen came up with belong to her, TNT, Janet Tamaro et al. Associated characters that were introduced into the TV series also belong to them, so I make no claim on their copyright.

However.

The original idea came from Annajadekin. Therefore the idea copyright belongs to Annajadekin.

The copyright of the original written storyline, and original characters within belong to me.

Please do not use either of the above copyrights without express permission from Annajadekin or me. This story may be archived on suitable sites, with all warnings, copyright and disclaimers in place. Although please remember that I, (or Annajadekin), need to be informed of the archive for our own records.

Copyright for all original ideas and characters June 2015.

Sorry this has not been beta read, so all and any mistakes are mine. And no matter what you do, you always seem to spot the mistakes after you hit enter!

Summary: Only Jane's family know her true potential. Many times Jane's wanted to let Maura in on her secrets, but thanks to self-esteem issues Jane has as a result of childhood bullies, she has failed. Will this case open the door to those secrets? And how will Maura react when she realizes her best friend is not all she seems? Eventually Rizzles.

Chapter one: Unhappy News.

Homicide Detective Jane Rizzoli had her head down, concentrating on the report she was reading. Her features were obscured by her long curly black hair that had come loose from its ponytail, and was now framing her beautiful angular face.

In the periphery of her awareness she registered the slightly distant, but distinctive clack of the heels worn by the Boston Police Department's Medical Examiner, Dr. Maura Isles. Although to be fair, Maura Isles was far more than that; to be exact she was the Chief Medical Examiner of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, and adopted sole heir to the Isles considerable family fortune. Add into the mix her real Father was a mobster now in prison after her real Mother had given evidence against him, and it made for an interesting story. Not forgetting that Maura had also donated a kidney to her half sister. One thing was for sure, Jane knew life around the pretty Doctor was never boring.

Curious as to why the other woman had made her way up to the bullpen, Jane raised her head and smiled in greeting when Maura pushed through the door that separated the Detectives working space from the rest of the building.

The smile faded though when Jane saw the unhappy look on her best friends face. Getting up she gently pulled the smaller woman aside, taking them into the adjoining BRIC, which was currently unoccupied.

"Hey, Maura. What's up?" Jane asked in concern.

Maura shook her head. The honey blond hair that was normally so tidy was uncharacteristically unkempt and almost looked tangled. It was as though Maura had spent some time running her hands nervously through her hair. As if to confirm Jane's suspicions Maura did exactly that before she replied. "I was wondering if tomorrow you could come to Holyoke with me for a couple of days?"

Jane knew after her current shift ended she was off duty until the following Monday, and had no problem agreeing to the request. "Of course I can. But something tells me this is more than just a girls trip away."

Maura nodded, looking miserable. So miserable in fact that Jane drew her into a hug, slightly muffling the other woman's reply. "An old school friend died yesterday. Her mother wants me to conduct another autopsy. She's not happy with the results the county medical examiner came up with regarding cause of death, and asked I be called in to check his findings. He wasn't too happy, but Eve's mother has a great deal of influence in the county."

"Do you want to do this?" Jane asked. She was concerned Maura would be working on the body of a former friend.

"To be honest I have no idea what I want. The ME is convinced Eve committed suicide, but her mother is insisting Eve would never take her own life. What concerns me is if I go there and find there are suspicious circumstances surrounding Eve's death. That could be a problem if anybody questions my impartiality."

Jane thought about this for a moment, then said. "If the ME has called you in as Chief Medical Examiner I shouldn't think that would be a problem."

The smaller woman nodded, still securely held in Jane's arms. "Still, under these circumstances I would normally delegate Dr. Pike to perform an autopsy where my impartiality might be called into question..."

Her voice trailed off, and Jane knew what her friend had been about to say, and so finished the sentence aloud. "But you don't want his sometimes incompetence anywhere near a friend."

This time there was only a nod in return. Maura was too much of a professional to say those damning words about a colleague out loud while at work. In private however, she and Jane had often discussed the man's lack of professionalism, and noted it seemed especially pronounced during times of stress.

Thinking for a moment the dark haired Detective soon came up with what she hoped would be an acceptable compromise. "You ask Pike to perform the autopsy, but under the understanding you'll be an observer. That way you can get the answers Eve's mother wants, but without being too directly involved."

Maura squeezed Jane harder for a moment before finally stepping out of the comforting embrace. "Thank you. Of course that is the ideal thing to do. Unfortunately I was too flustered to think of the obvious answer myself."

Jane smiled, and said in a slightly teasing tone. "Imagine that, Maura Isles flustered. I'm marking the day on my calendar."

Maura's lips drew together in an exasperated line, before she shook her head and said. "At least I had a valid reason."

Jane immediately fell silent, a somber look crossing her countenance. "Sorry Maur," she said after a moment, using the diminutive name she had created for the Doctor. "A loss of a friend is not a time to be joking."

Maura again shook her head, now looking annoyed with herself. "No, I'm sorry. I know you were only trying to lighten the mood." Finally a genuine, albeit small smile appeared. "Thank you again. It means a lot to me, knowing you'll be there."

Jane waved off the faint praise. "Ah, it's nothing. I wouldn't be much of a friend if I left you to deal with this on your own."

The Doctor looked embarrassed. "Yes, well. That may be, but I sometimes still forget that these days I can ask you for support."

"Well, I'm glad you remembered to ask me this time." Jane's words were soft but heartfelt.

The smile returned, and Maura replied equally softly. "So am I."

Once Maura had made her way back down to the morgue, it didn't take Jane long to finish up her paperwork. Making her way down to the precinct cafe, Jane stopped to talk to her mother, who was working there during her usual daytime hours.

"Hi Ma," Jane made her way to the counter, grateful it was quiet for a change. Ever since her mother had taken over the main cooking duties at the cafe the place had become much more popular. Not only was Angela Rizzoli friendlier than the sullen owner Stanley, her superb cooking skills were well received.

"Janie," Angela said, pleased to see her daughter. Putting down the dishtowel she was using to wipe down the back counter, she made her way to Jane's side and gave her a kiss on the cheek. "I wasn't expecting to see you until this evening for dinner."

"Yeah well, Maura came to see me earlier, and I need to ask you a favor."

Seeing the concern in Jane's face Angela immediately went into protective parent mode. After Frank Rizzoli had walked out on her for another woman, causing their marriage to implode, Maura had opened up her guesthouse to Angela, giving the upset and destitute woman a place to live. To begin with it had only been a temporary arrangement. But over time Maura had been welcomed into the ranks of the remaining Rizzoli family. Meaning the older woman was now living in the guesthouse permanently. "Is everything alright?" Angela asked in a brisk tone. Maura was like another daughter to her, and Angela would protect her as ferociously as she did her other three children.

Jane nodded. "Yeah, well, no. Not totally. An old school friend of Maura's died yesterday, and she asked me to go with her tomorrow to Holyoke for a couple of days. Would you mind looking after Jo for me?" Jo Friday was Jane's little mongrel dog. A gift given to her by her former partner, and now her Homicide Sergeant, Vince Korsak.

Angela drew a hand up to her chest in horror. "Oh my word. Of course I'll have Jo. Is Maura okay? Maybe I should go and see her." Jane put her hand out to stop her mother removing the apron she wore. "Ma, she's fine. Anyway she's probably finished for the day. She was called out early this morning on that unexplained death we were investigating first thing."

Angela paused, gauging Jane's sincerity. "Okay," she stopped what she was doing. "But once you've packed you get over to Maura's straight away and make sure she's alright!"

"I will Ma, don't worry."

Mollified Angela returned to work. But not before she added. "And don't forget you're picking up Frankie tonight!"

Laughing, Jane waved her assent and left to go pack a bag.

Dinner that night had been a relaxed affair. Angela had deliberately kept the atmosphere light knowing Maura was feeling unsettled by the mornings news. Unexpectedly Maura had asked Jane to stay the night. Pleased that she'd had the foresight to put her bag into the trunk of her car ready for the mornings journey, Jane easily agreed. Plus, Jo stayed often enough that there was no need to have brought any of her belongings over for the dogs stay with Angela.

Having slept fitfully Maura rose before dawn the following morning. Once she had plied Jane with coffee they had left early enough to beat the worst of the city traffic. They had taken Maura's car, and Maura was driving. Jane was never as awake as Maura first thing, so she happily accepted the responsibility of driving the return half of their trip.

After they had been driving in companionable silence for an hour, Maura had briefly looked at Jane and asked. "What do you know about Holyoke?"

"I know the city houses the Massachusetts Green High Performance Computing Center, and it was where volleyball was invented. Plus the volleyball Hall Of Fame is somewhere in the city, but I've never visited it." Jane inwardly cringed, hoping Maura wouldn't ask how she knew about the computing center. The words had slipped out before Jane realized what she was saying. Jane knew the volleyball reference would be easy to explain away given her interest in sports. But Jane was still not confident about letting others know about her real academic abilities.

Her self esteem had taken such a battering as a child, that even now, all these years later, opening up to others about her achievements was impossible. Even if the person she was opening up to was Maura Isles. A person Jane trusted with her life. Her battered psyche still wouldn't allow her to say the words she most wanted to say to Maura. And that was depressing. Depressing enough that she hated herself for the lack of courage. Despite her Mother's reassurances that Maura would treasure the knowledge, somehow Jane always found herself failing whenever she tried to bring up the subject.

Jane knew her Mother was disappointed that she hadn't confided in Maura. But she also knew Angela would never betray her secrets. Realizing Maura had not noticed her slip, Jane relaxed, and settled in for the remainder of the drive.

Directing the car to the large duel level brick building set back off a tree lined road, Maura checked the address once more before she said. "We're here."

Once Maura had found a parking spot in the visitors section, Jane got out and stretched, pleased to finally have her long frame out of the cramped car. "Which apartment number was it?"

"Nine," Maura confirmed.

As if on cue Maura recognized the older distinguished woman who was walking over from a large SUV parked in the spot marked with a nine written on the side. Maura met the slim, well dressed woman halfway - Jane noted Eve's mother was the same height as Maura - and they embraced in silence. When they broke apart Maura reached for Jane and introduced them.

"Maxine Clifford, this is Jane Rizzoli."

"Maura's Detective friend," Maxine gave Jane a warm smile and held out her hand. "Thank you for coming," she said as Jane shook the offered appendage.

"It was the least I could do," Jane said quietly. "I'm sorry for your loss."

Under the welcoming smiles she had given the other two women Maxine's grieving was evident. And it took Maxine a moment to formulate her reply. "Thank you. Here is the key to Eve's apartment. If you don't mind I'll wait in the car. I can't face going in quite yet."

"That's perfectly understandable," Jane said, all her years of dealing compassionately with the families of murder victims coming to the fore. Taking the proffered key she added. "I promise we'll be as quick as we can."

"Thank you for your understanding," and before either of them could answer Maxine turned, and with an audible sob walked back to her SUV.

The click of the opening door sounded loud to Maura's ears. As often as she had supervised a crime scene, walking into her friend's apartment was totally different. Taking a fortifying breath, she silently accepted the gloves and foot covers that Jane handed her.

"I can do this by myself if it's too hard," Jane offered quietly.

Maura shook her head. Both in answer to Jane's question, and to focus her mind back onto the task ahead. "Thank you but no. We need to go to through here as if it is a crime scene. It would take too long with only one of us doing the job."

"The local police didn't do a basic sweep as a matter of course?" Jane asked surprised. In any sudden death there should have at least been a minimal forensic examination of the apartment for evidence of foul play.

"None," Maura confirmed. "When he arrived the Medical Examiner was so convinced it was suicide the police didn't really bother. I can't say I blame them. They don't have the resources we do, and they'd already been tied up that day dealing with some rioting youths and vandalism in the city center."

"Even so," Jane muttered as she started to look through some papers on the desk in the corner of the small sitting room. "You'd think they wouldn't just take his word on the whole thing."

"A smaller city has other priorities at times. I can't blame them for taking John at his word." Maura knew Eve's body had been found in the bathroom. Deciding she would leave that till area until last, Maura moved into the bedroom. Noting the twin bed and bedside table, with a lamp sitting on top, she had to raise her voice slightly to be heard. "He's been a good Medical Examiner over the years. If Maxine wasn't so adamant Eve would never kill herself I probably would have have accepted his report without question when it arrived on my desk."

"Okay, I can live with that," Jane finally said, acknowledging the truth behind Maura's words.

"Have you found anything yet?" Maura asked.

"Nothing so far," Jane admitted before saying. "Wait a minute. Did Eve have any German family or friends?"

"Yes. She was friends with a German girl in school. They remained in touch. Why?"

"I just found a paper with some German written down. But if there's a reason for it to be here it doesn't help much." In a quieter tone Jane uttered the words written down. "Meine Damen und Herren, ich präsentiere: Mutti's Geburtstagstorte." *

Maura looked askance towards the open door, not quite sure what she had heard. While Maura expected Jane to be able to speak some Italian, given her family's heritage, she was sure the other woman had just spoken almost perfect German. Although it wasn't a language Maura knew well, she knew enough to recognize there had been no trace of an American accent to Jane's words. Before she could ask though, her attention was drawn to another find in the small, cramped apartment.

"Jane," she said hesitantly. "I think you need to see this."

"What is it?" Jane asked as she walked through the door.

"Something I would definitely class as suspicious circumstances." Maura admitted. Before her the drawer to the bedside table now lay open, and inside there was a knife. A knife with smears on it that looked as though they could be blood.

"Reddish brown stains." Jane muttered.

"Reddish brown stains." Maura confirmed.

"Damn!"

* My Ladies and Gentlemen, I present: Mother's birthday cake.