This story follows on after the events of the story "The Charity Ball" which appears as Chapter One of my Intersecting Lines: Possession and Passion story series.

Basically while attending the Mayor of Boston's Children's Charity Ball Maura publically staked her claim over Jane, something which was seen by many of the guests, most particularly by a reporter from the Boston Globe.

Their relationship is now public knowledge.

Not everyone is pleased by the news.

The other shoe drops

"Hey Rizzoli, wait up!"

At the call I paused in the hallway, turning to see Patrolman Geoff Ramsey walking my way, letting my eyebrows rise as I did, I knew him well, a good cop trying hard to climb up and out of the beat and into a specialty area. I greeted him as he approached me.

"Hey Ramsey, what's up?" Ramsey smiled happily.

"Just wanted to congratulate you, you and Doctor Isles I mean" At my puzzled look he continued. "You and the Doc, well we had our suspicions, but you both look happy so there you go" I frowned, what was he on about?

"What are you talking about Ramsey?" At my words he looked at me like I was suddenly sporting two heads.

"That story, in the Globe" I frowned, wondering if he was being deliberately vague.

"What story?" The look on Geoff's face was a priceless combination of surprise and amusement.

"Oh my god, you don't know" He shook his head then grabbed my arm and guided me off to one side into the break room. "You gotta see this Jane" As I disentangled my arm from his grip he swept up a paper off one of the tables and held it out to me, hanging from one fist. I was about to say something when the image on the page leapt out at me, my stomach dropping into my boots as I saw it.

Maura and I standing side by side at the Ball, looking very comfortable in each other's company thank you very much, Maura in that glorious red Versace number with Jane close by her side wearing a tailored tuxedo. The text left absolutely nothing to the imagination.

'BOSTON'S HOTTEST GAY COUPLE; TOP SOCIALITE AND ACE DETECTIVE NOW AN ITEM'.

I felt a yawning pit open in my stomach as I reached out and took the paper, not missing Ramsey's grin at my reaction but I was too busy reading to do much more than notice though... seeing Alicia Morgan's by-line over the body of the article.

'Boston's long-held suspicions have been confirmed, rich A-lister and heir to the Isles' fortune Doctor Maura Isles, is now off the market and with a woman to boot. Boston Homicide detective Jane Rizzoli and Isles have long been suspected of being more than friends but the power lesbian couple confirmed their arrangement exclusively to the Globe at the Boston Ball this weekend"

No one would call me a coward but I knew exactly what kind of shit storm from my co-workers I was walking into the moment I saw the front page of the paper, the picture of us together at the ball told the story, confirmed by Alicia's text. Our relationship was now very, very public.

Thanking Ramsey and accepting his congratulations as best I could I sent a text to Maura to give the person who was now publically my girlfriend a heads up; no doubt her team would be a lot less hostile to the idea than the reception I was about to face, I shoved my cell back onto my belt, squared my shoulders and jaw and strode down the hall towards Homicide.

Walking in I strode straight over to my desk as all conversation dropped off at my arrival, obviously word had got around fast, sitting down I was about to say something to play it off when an annoyingly familiar voice filled the quiet.

"Well if it isn't dyke-tective Rizzoli" I let my head slowly turn to take in Crowe, then scanned the rest of the room, noting those who were grinning and those who looked embarrassed, the former well outnumbering the latter. I felt my lips curve down in scorn; it was hardly surprising after all, I was the youngest to make detective in Boston's history, first female homicide detective and had by far the highest closure rate in the Commonwealth, all of which made too many old-school detectives quietly resentful of me, basically I upended the order of things.

Not to mention I was now publically involved with a stunningly beautiful woman every one of these sexist assholes would give their left nut to bed, not that there was ever any chance of that happening before but now that Maura was involved with me none of these sexist douche-bags had a snowball's chance in hell, not if they valued their lives. Speaking of which…

"Got a problem Crowe?" He shook his head, grinning, he was obviously enjoying this way too much.

"Nah, just happy to have everyone's suspicions confirmed that you're a rug-muncher" I turned and looked around the room, meeting the eyes of everyone there as I felt my hands unconsciously ball into fists and my jaw unconsciously jut out combatively. Working on the theory of the best defence being a good offence I threw it back at him.

"Really, that's the best you can come up with, after a whole night working on it?" I shook my head at Crowe and forced out a light response. "A goldfish could come up with a better line than that" I forced out a smile for our audience. "Maybe you're in the wrong division Crowe, with a wit like that you'd be a big hit in Juvenile" Emboldened, Crowe shrugged off my comments as he grinned around the room, stepping a bit closer and playing to the audience then came back to me.

"So what's it like having the Queen of the Dead go down on you?" He swaggered a little bit closer as he continued spewing shit at me. "Is Isles as hot as she looks or does she live up to her name in the sack?" He brayed out a laugh, and looked around the room, soaking up the attention as I desperately tried hard to keep my cool, I really didn't want to lose it at Crowe again, after all he'd simply take that as another win, the sleazy bastard. I finally managed to get my temper under control enough to speak.

"That's Doctor Isles you sexist piece of shit" I leaned forward, arms on my desk and stared at him through narrowed eyes. "You talk about her like that again and I'll happily remove a few more teeth, and this time it'll take more than a day's work by the dentist to fix the damage" I let my voice drop. "Understand?"

Normally at this point Crowe's sense of self-preservation would have kicked in but he obviously thought that the quiet support of the other cops there would stay my retribution, a misconception I was more than happy to dispel if Crowe kept going.

Naturally he did.

"Is it true that lesbians who want kids have to go to a clinic?" Crowe sneered at me. "Tell you what Rizzoli, I'll donate my services free of charge, get the Doc knocked up for you good and proper" I stood so fast my chair tipped over behind me, the sound of it hitting the floor echoed across the room, effectively silencing everyone as I stared at Crowe and ground out my words through gritted teeth.

"Crowe, I will give you one warning, one time only. You can come after me all you want, but Doctor Isles is off limits to you and your idiotic comments, you hear me?" Crowe obviously thought he was on a roll as he grinned and pushed his luck even more.

"Why Rizzoli, can't she handle it? She's apparently fucking you, god knows why, so she should be able to handle anything; I mean she must have a strong stomach…" I started walking Crowe's way, seeing several people carefully backing out of the line of fire, demonstrating at least a little common sense; Crowe however was oblivious as he looked at me.

"Jesus Rizzoli, if you're this shitty either you're on the rag or Isles really is a dead fuck" He shook his head. "Maybe you can't do the job, maybe I should step in on your behalf and give her a good dicking" He favoured me with an all-too-familiar sleazy grin. "No need to thank me Rizzoli, just happy to help Isles out, you on the other hand…" He let his words trail off as he ran his eyes up and down my body and shook his head. "I prefer my women to look like women, not skinny dykes so Isles is just my type" At that last I saw red.

In three quick steps I was up to Crowe and grabbed him by the shirt, swinging him in a circle and slamming him flat against the closest wall hard enough to stun him as his eyes widened in surprise, he obviously didn't think I'd respond, dumb bastard. Several detectives went to move but I speared the room with a blazingly angry look that activated everyone's self-preservation instinct, pissing me off right now wasn't the smartest decision any of them could make right now. Satisfied it was just the two of us I looked back at Crowe's suddenly anxious face and snarled at him

"You useless piece of shit, I've a good mind to…" I was interrupted by a loud voice.

"Rizzoli, what the HELL is going on here?" At Lieutenant Cavanagh's shout the room stilled, all except me, I had a message to deliver; I leaned forward and spoke in a hiss though in the silence plenty of others heard it.

"You try dragging her name through the mud again Crowe and I swear they'll be dredging the harbour looking for whatever's left of you, understand?" With that I shoved him away, sending him sprawling across a desk as I turned to face the music. "Lieutenant" I saw Cavanagh standing there with his hands on his hips and a pissed off expression, I didn't have to wait long.

"What the hell's gotten into you Rizzoli?" He looked at Crowe who was regaining his feet and his composure and then back at me. "Do I have to put you on suspension for assaulting another officer?" I shrugged.

"Not if he learns to keep a civil tongue in his head" Cavanagh scowled at me, unimpressed, as his next words demonstrated.

"What the hell is wrong with you?" I was about to reply when Crowe spoke up.

"Rizzoli here must be on the rag, she blew up at a little harmless banter" I started to turn back to Crowe when Cavanagh intervened.

"Rizzoli!" I stilled, sent Crowe a filthy look then turned back to face Cavanagh. "Explain yourself!" I stood there for a second, getting my anger under control then spoke.

"Crowe here was acting like a sexist dick as only he can" I shrugged. "I was letting him know just how much I objected to his abuse of Doctor Isles" Cavanagh shook his head.

"This again?" He looked from me to Crowe and back again. "I thought you'd put that behind you both" I shook my head; Cavanagh obviously hadn't heard the news so I might as well get it out there.

"Not when it's my girlfriend he's talking about" Confused, Cavanagh tipped his head to regard me but before he could speak someone held out a copy of the Globe, he looked down and his eyes widened before he grabbed the paper in one hand and gave it a cursory read. Looking up he fixed me with a look as he waved the paper in my general direction.

"Is this true?" I nodded once.

"It is" He regarded me for a few seconds through narrowed eyes then spoke again.

"Will this affect your professional relationship?" I was shocked by the question, 'what the hell?' I shook my head as I wondered where the hell this had come from, and then answered.

"It hasn't to this point, so it shouldn't in the future" Realisation suddenly hit Cavanagh.

"How long has this been going on?" His jaw jutted forward in anger. "Why wasn't I told?" I shrugged nonchalantly, we'd done the right thing back and notified HR when we'd started out and according to HR there was no requirement to spill the beans to Cavanagh, which I told him.

"More than six months, we informed HR not long after we got together" Cavanagh's jaw tightened even further as he favoured me with a filthy look.

"And it didn't occur to you to tell me?" I shook my head; certain of my ground, HR had given the advice straight up.

"No, Doctor Isles and I aren't in the same chain of command, according to the regs as long as HR is notified, unless we're in the same unit or in the chain of command our superiors don't need to be informed" Cavanagh was livid.

"I don't give a fuck what regulations say, I should have been told when this started" I was surprised by his tantrum but didn't let it show, instead deciding to point out the obvious.

"Well, seeing the reception I got this morning…" I jerked my thumb back at Crowe. "You can see why we didn't make a song and dance about it" I looked round the room and speared almost everyone there with an angry glance before I continued. "Given the shit we were getting when we weren't together, you can understand why we kept it on the down low"

"No I don't" Cavanagh was obviously pissed, exactly why I didn't know. "Your behavior is becoming dangerously unprofessional, if I find you threatening any of your fellow officers I'll have you up on charges" He held a finger up, "Am I understood?" I wasn't going to carry all the blame for today's little blow up.

"I take it that cuts both ways?" At his angry stare I shrugged. "Lieutenant" He looked round the room and spoke.

"Did Crowe do anything to warrant Rizzoli's attack on him?" For a few seconds no one said anything as I waited before Barry Frost spoke up as I hid a smile, Frost had my back..

"Actually Lieutenant…" He was cut off by Cavanagh, his voice mocking.

"Anyone here who isn't her partner?" I felt my teeth grind at his surprisingly shitty attitude even as Korsak shook his head and spoke up from his desk.

"Crowe crossed the line with his comments about Doctor Isles Lieutenant" Cavanagh looked down at Korsak for a couple of seconds then looked round the room.

"Anyone else here think so?" There was silence as I felt my temper starting to fray. I didn't know what Cavanagh's problem was but he was being a complete shit about it.

"Nobody?" He turned to look at me. "Your shitty attitude's going to get you into trouble Rizzoli. You're on 24 hours suspension without pay and consider yourself lucky you're getting off so lightly". I was on suspension? Outraged I shook my head, 'WTF', and what about Crowe? I went to speak but Cavanagh wasn't having a bar of it.

"I don't give a shit what you think Rizzoli. Shut your mouth and listen up" With effort I clamped down on my tongue and said nothing. Satisfied, Cavanagh continued. "You've had issues with Crowe for too long, I'll talk to HR and they'll arrange for you to attend anger management and sensitivity courses"

Appalled, I struggled to not say the first five things that came into my head, the first of which was 'Fuck' closely followed by 'You'. Finally I managed to grind out a response that wouldn't get me immediately fired,

"And Crowe?" Cavanagh was obviously uninterested.

"He's not the one who's being an asshole; you're the one attacking him so it's your problem" At that piece of character assassination I had to defend myself.

"I don't have a problem with anyone else, mostly because they don't trash talk Doctor Isles like Crowe here" Cavanagh shook his head, patently unimpressed.

"Rizzoli, I don't give a shit. You're on suspension so get the hell out of this office. I expect you back here tomorrow with an improved attitude. If so maybe you might avoid a longer suspension or worse" I couldn't help myself, I had to ask.

"Like what?" Cavanagh was matter of fact.

"Maybe they might appreciate your shitty attitude back in Vice?" He pointed at me and kept on. "Keep your shit up and that's where you're going right back to" Appalled, I stood there fuming as he looked round the office and spoke. "Don't you have enough work to do? You're not paid to stand around like gawking schoolgirls so get to work" He looked back at me and raised an eyebrow. "Something you want to say Detective?"

I swallowed everything I desperately wanted to say, knowing I'd be busted out of homicide if I did. Finally I managed to say something, shaking my head I spoke, the disgust in my voice obvious even in my ears.

"Not anything you want to hear Lieutenant" I felt like spitting, the taste of bile in my throat as I looked at a man who I thought respected me was bitter, obviously I'd been very, very wrong about him. Taking in his pissed off look I shook my head and finally managed to speak.

"I'm sorry I was so mistaken" Cavanagh frowned at my cryptic response.

"About what?" I didn't bother mincing words.

"You" Cavanagh's face darkened.

"Get out" I turned away, seeing both Frost and Korsak looking at me with sympathy, even pity in their eyes, somehow that made me even angrier. I didn't want or deserve anyone's pity. I was about to say something when I saw Homicide's only other female detective Riley Cooper standing near the door behind Cavanagh; Riley shook her head quickly and, catching my eye, Riley mouthed the words 'not now'.

We exchanged a look for a second or two, long enough for Riley to give me an encouraging smile; it wasn't much but it was enough.

With a disgusted glance at the rest I turned and walked out.