One shot... written by little ol' me alone. ;-)

Characters aren't mine. They belong to important people like Tess and Janet. Fair warning: I proof read nothing.


"Where is she?" Jane picked the small, thin up by the collar, pushing him against the wall of his living room. "I know you know where she is. Tell me now before I…"

"Jane," Frost cut in trying to pry his partner's hands from the suspect's collar. "Jane, you can't do this."

Never taking her eyes from the man in her grasp, she replied. "Watch me."

"Jane, if you hurt him, he'll never tell us where Maura is. Think about this. You need to calm down." Frost tried again, looking from Jane's glaring face to the smug face of the perp in her grasp. "Don't let him get the upper hand."

"Rule 1." She didn't use them often, but she had her own set of rules and regulations outside of what she had to enforce every day. Rule 1 was one she'd proven time and again – Never hurt or endanger a member of her family or her friends; you will come to regret it.

"We'll find her, but this isn't the way."

"Worried about your girlfriend, Detective?" The man said, the smugness in his voice matching his face.

Frost's sharp intake of breath gave away his surprise, but Jane never wavered. "If you've hurt her in anyway," she growled, "I'll make you wish you were never born."

Again, Frost tried to intervene. "Okay, we can't…"

"I'm only going to ask you this one more time," her voice was low with threat. "Where. Is. She?"

"Close," the man answered, giving a little shrug. "Not going to find her though. You made my life hell by taking out my partner, and I'm only returning the favor, Detective. How does it feel, hmm? How does it feel to know the person you love is in danger and there's nothing you can do about it? To know that she's going to die, and you can't even get to her to stop it? Sucks, doesn't it?"

Jane abruptly let go of his collar, the sudden release momentarily surprising him. Frost took control of the suspect, handcuffing him.

"Chad, your partner tried to kill a 13 year old boy who was trying to escape from him. Tony was trying to rape that boy, and, when the kid finally made it outside Tony's place, Tony came out shooting. We didn't have a choice but to take him down. Tony was a serial rapist and murderer. How could you love a monster like that?" She took in a deep breath, trying to calm herself. "You're both fucked up in the head."

"Jane, let's take him in. We can question him at the station," Frost offered.

"No, she's here, somewhere in this house, and we're going to find her." Jane's eyes ran around the living room as she thought.

"You… why didn't you tell me?" Her partner finally asked the question that had been on his mind since they had started for Chad's home.

"No one knew. We wanted to keep it under wraps until we… well, until I was okay with people knowing." She started going through the room, rapping on the wall as she walked.

"You know Korsak and I wouldn't judge. I mean," Frost watched her, puzzled, "do you think we would have stopped talking to you or something?"

"No. I just wasn't ready. Can we not talk about this right now in front of him," Jane motioned to the seated Chad who was also watching her walk around his living room. "You," she said to the suspect, "are an architect, which means you know how to hide things in plain sight." She stopped walking the room. He shrugged at her, face suddenly going from smug to blank. "Frost, help me look for a door."

"What?" Her partner was clearly confused by the sudden shift.

"A door. Help me find a door that doesn't really look like a door. You know, like… like..." her eyes ran around the living room again, falling to a door that should lead to the basement, "like that." She went to the door and tired it. It was locked. "Don't suppose you're going to give me the key, are you Chad?"

"And make it easy? Don't think so, Detective."

She kicked the door a few times, but it didn't budge. "The hell?" She turned to Frost, nodding to it.

"Maybe we should get a warrant? The door's locked, Jane."

"Rule 56.08." At his annoyed look, she said with a lilt of humor in her voice, "When on a case, locked doors are just a 'suggestion.' Now, help me get this open."

Sighing, Frost walked to the door and gave his best kick. Nothing. "What the hell?" He turned to the now smugly smiling suspect. "It feels like something's behind the door. Hold on," he leaned in looking at the door. "I'll be right back," he said as he headed out the front door.

"You won't get to her in time." Chad reclined as best he could on his sofa as he watched. "She's as good as dead, you know."

"Shut up," Jane snapped as she paced in front of the door.

Frost came in a moment later with a tool kit. "We'll take the door off the hinges."

It took them a few minutes to do just that. As they pulled the door away, Jane swore. They were greeted with a freshly created brick wall. "She's behind this wall, isn't she? Maura?" She yelled loudly at the brick wall. "Maura, can you hear me?" Nothing but Chad's amused chuckles from behind them. "Damn it, Frost what do we do now? There's no telling what it's like behind this wall."

Frost pulled out a hammer and small chisel, silently handing it to his partner who started chipping away at the fresh mortar. It took some minutes to break through, and, flashing a light through the hold the removed brick provided, Jane's face went blank. "She's in there but she's not moving. It's some kind of messed up cubbyhole, barely enough room for her to sit on the floor; she's at least passed out. Call for back up and a bus." Jane's hands worked frantically with hammer and chisel as Frost made the call in.

Jane worked intently, ignoring the remarks from Chad as she pulled the wall down brick by brick. By the time the fire department arrived on the scene, Jane had almost made a whole large enough to get to Maura. "Help me," she demanded of the fire fighters who took to the wall with better equipment.


"Hey sleepyhead, you're way late for work. You know that?" Jane quietly asked as she ran a gentle hand across Maura's forehead.

Hazel eyes fluttered opened, and the doctor took in a few deep breathes as she tried to get her bearings. "Jane?"

"Yeah," relief flooded the detective's face. "How do you feel?"

"Not well," came the strained response. "But I feel slightly better. I think I'm ready to hear how you managed to find me now."

"I took out a door and wall. It was great, like superwoman but without the super." The detective gave a small smirk.

"I don't know about that," Maura said as she tried to sit up.

"He did a number on you, but he's locked up now, and no one in the station is giving him any favors. I almost feel bad for him… almost but not really." Jane helped the bruised and battered woman sit up. "I am so, so sorry, sweetheart. This wouldn't have happened if it wasn't for me. He…"

"Incorrectly blamed you for his partner's death. Yes, I know his reasons. He told me all about it as he was laying the bricks." The smaller woman reached a shaky hand out to place it lightly against the detective's face. "It wasn't your fault, Jane. He was unstable."

"But, Maura…"

"No buts. We've discussed what we would do should something like this happen to one of us." Maura took in a deep breath and let out a little whine. "Broken ribs?"

"Three." Jane winced in sympathetic pain. "You should probably know before the others come in to take your statement the cat's out of the bag."

"What cat?"

Jane gave a light chuckle. "They know, Maura… about us."

"Oh," Maura processed the information, taking longer than she would normally to come up with her response. "Good."

"Yeah?"

"Yes, it means no one will think it odd if they walk in right now." She nodded in the affirmative to herself.

"Why? What are you planning?" Jane shot her a look of suspicion.

"You saved my life, Jane." Maura stated, holding her hand up to stop Jane from interrupting, "That deserves some sort of reward."

"Like?"

The hand being held up reached out to grab and pull at the front of Jane's shirt, guiding Jane to lean in closer to the medical examiner. "Like this," she stated before giving Jane a gentle kiss.

"We're gone for five minutes to grab coffee, and come back to find you two making out. Really? You couldn't wait so Korsak can take pictures?" Frost's voice echoed through the quiet of the hospital room.

"Hey! I'm not a dirty old man," Korsak objected.

Jane pulled slowly away from Maura, smiling at Maura's smile of amusement. As she stood, she turned to the two men. "I'm sure you'll have another chance. You bring my coffee or what?"

"Yeah, here. One sugar with extra coffee," Frost said, handing over the cup.

"Thank you," Maura said from seemingly nowhere.

"We didn't bring you any coffee, Doc," Korsak said, confused.

"Clearly. I simply mean… thank you for… everything you're doing here. Everything could be so much more… unpleasant."

"We already told Rizzoli if she breaks your heart we're going to string her up the flagpole out in front of the station by her underwear. It's all good," Frost said, smiling as Korsak nodded his agreement.

"Well, I don't think you need to threaten Jane. She treats me well as I do her."

"What they're trying to say is they're okay with it." Jane smiled, walking to sit down beside the doctor. "We need to take your statement when you're ready. Are you up for it?"

"Yes…"


Thank you for reading. Your reviews are much appreciated.