Boston Homicide Detective Jane Rizzoli was nothing less than a force to be reckoned with. She was a fierce storm when she was angry, easily able to shake down anybody who stood in her way with nothing more than her booming voice and a ferocious gleam in her expressive brown eyes. And yet, there was a deep, gentle side to her that many rarely saw outside her circle of close friends. She was compassionate, kind, caring and loyal. She would throw herself in front of many a bullet for her loved ones, and even those she didn't know; innocents caught in the crossfire of investigations gone awry.

Though she didn't like to talk about it, deep down Jane Rizzoli had a very big heart, one that she strove to hide from those who would hurt it, for as big as it was, it was also extremely vulnerable, and that was something she tried her best to keep hidden.

None noticed this more than Doctor Maura Isles, the Boston Police Department pathologist and Jane's best friend. She heard Jane before she saw her, shouting her way down to the autopsy room. She was clearly angry about something, and this was only compounded by the fact that she stomped into the room with a scowl on her face. Maura smiled at her.

"Problems, Jane?" She asked, amused despite the glare Jane was sending her way. There was something exquisitely wild about the detective when she was in a rage, but far from being afraid, Maura was always awed by the sheer power of her presence, regardless of her moods. She watched as Jane stalked around the room like a caged bull, and waited patiently until the outburst came.

"I'm being investigated!" Jane spat out, her long and wavy black locks shaking with her anger. Maura became instantly serious then. She could see the deep seated upset in Jane's eyes, and moved to halt her pacing.

"Sit down, Jane, I'm worried your elevated blood pressure will cause you to lose consciousness, and I am unlikely to successfully catch you should you fall." Despite her mood, Jane gave a small smile.

"Oh, so now you're saying I'm fat?" She joked, but followed orders and accompanied Maura to her office where she dropped into what she had deemed the most uncomfortable chair in existence. She shifted around, growing more and more frustrated until she looked up to see Maura watching her, amused as always by what the doctor perceived as odd behaviour.

Jane folded her arms and huffed. "They're investigating me about Hoyt's murder." She mumbled, her gaze off to the side and her angular jaw determinedly rigid. Maura saw the pain there, however, and she felt an itch where Charles Hoyt, a sick murderer of many vulnerable women and Jane's personal tormentor, had started to slit her throat when she and Jane had been captured and at his mercy. She knew it was ridiculous to feel anything there, as the wound had healed long ago and the scar that remained was painless and barely visible. She knew it was purely psychological, but nevertheless she found herself touching the scar as she thought of the events that put it there.

"But you killed him in self defence, surely you're not being prosecuted for that?" She finally said, a frown on her elfin face. Jane looked at her, saw the way she was stroking a finger over the scar that bastard had branded her with, and knew she was remembering what had happened.

She herself relived the horror every night when she closed her eyes, often waking to find her body drenched in sweat, the vision of Hoyt looming over her, scalpel in hand, refusing to fade away in the darkness. She was getting no more than three hours sleep a night, and the deprivation had been hell on her moods. She wondered how Maura coped with the memories, but was far too proud to ask her directly.

"Thats the dumbass part, if I'd killed the bastard with a bullet there wouldn't be a problem, but stabbing him with his own fucking scalpel is different, apparently." Agitated, she rose from her uncomfortable seat and began pacing again. "This is bullshit!" She eventually bellowed.

Maura stopped her with a hand on her arm. "I was there, Jane, I'll be your witness." She smiled softly, hazel eyes open and honest like a child's. "I've got your back."

Jane's heart melted and she pulled the doctor into a tight hug, seeking comfort as much as she wanted to give it. Maura was a very special person, and she didn't tell her that enough. She wasn't very good with words when it came to her own feelings. Maura returned the hug, and Jane caught the scent of her honey-blonde hair, the top of which was level with her nose. It smelled of wild berries and jasmine. An odd combination but it worked and was pleasant to inhale. The hug lasted for a few more moments before Jane pulled away.

"That means everything to me, Maura," she smiled, "But you'll still never get me to eat anything out of the dead fridge."

Angela Rizzoli added the final touches to the dinner for two she had laid out and then stepped back to admire her handiwork. She smiled with self-satisfaction, pleased that she had set such a lovely and romantic scene. If there was one thing her Janey needed in her life, it was a little more romance, and Angela was determined to see that she got it.

She didn't like to meddle in her children's lives, of course, she wasn't the prying type at all. But when push came to shove, Angela would shove with all her might to see her babies happy, whether they wanted her help or not. She sighed happily and left the dining room to prepare the meal she would be serving to Jane and her mystery date.

It was so nice of Maura to allow Angela to stay in her guest house when her own house had been taken from her. She was such a lovely woman, always willing to lend a hand to anybody in need. She was the type of person who really believed there was a little bit of good in everybody, and Angela thought the world would be a better place if there were a few more Mauras around. It would certainly be a more intelligent place, considering all those big fancy words and facts the doctor liked to rattle off that Angela usually couldn't make head nor tail of. She chuckled to herself at that, and started to prepare the vegetables.

She was sure she'd picked right this time, and not just because the suitor was wealthy and well bred, but because over the last few years she'd seen a connection grow between her daughter and this person into something that went beyond the boundaries of friendship. She'd watched them work together, play together, relax together and laugh together. She'd seen secret smiles exchanged , unhappy tears wiped away and meaningful looks that neither of them seemed to catch on to.

Well, Angela was sick of the waiting. It was time to give that bullheaded daughter of hers a good hard shove in the right direction.

How could such a perfect plan fail?

"Jane, your mother has been trying to get in touch, she wants to see you after work." Maura clip-clopped into the homicide office on her always fashionable heels as she delivered the news to Jane. She smiled sweetly when Jane lifted her head to reveal an expression that was equal parts reluctance and morbid curiosity.

"Did she say what it was?" The Detective asked after a short pause, in which she tried to remember if she'd done something to upset her mother recently.

"I don't believe she did," The Pathologist replied, surreptitiously sneaking her hand into the bag of chocolate truffles that sat on Jane's desk, "but she reiterated that it was rather urgent." She popped the chocolate into her mouth and sat down in the chair on the other side of Jane's desk.

"Why do you seem so happy about this?" Jane asked, suspicious, "Nothing good ever comes of being summoned by my mother. Nothing!" She snatched the truffles away as Maura reached for a second.

"Because," Maura started, watching the packet disappear into Jane's desk drawer, "I like watching you two converse. Your dynamic is so...fascinating!" A genuinely excited smile graced Maura's lips as she said this, whilst Jane could only glare at her with an incredulous expression.

"Intriguing, Maura? Really?" Jane shook her head in amusement, "Great, my best friend sees me as one of her social experiments. I feel like a prized chimpanzee. Somebody get me a banana." Korsak, Jane's former partner, and Frost, her current partner, both chuckled at her words.

"Did you know that chimpanzees actually like to eat a variety of foods? Not just bananas, as is so often depicted. One of their favourite treats is actually strawberry yoghurt." Maura smiled, pleased as always to be sharing one of her seemingly useless pieces of information. Jane shook her head and chuckled.

"Come on." She said, grabbing her coat.

The first thing Jane noticed when they arrived at Maura's place was the suspiciously dimmed lights in every room except the kitchen. She immediately threw her arm across Maura's middle and moved so that the doctor was shielded by her body, then used her free hand to withdraw her gun from its almost permanent place on her hip.

"Stay behind me, Maura..." She hissed, and then began to slowly make her way around the apartment, gently nudging open doors until she heard movement in the kitchen. She vaulted over the couch and kicked open the kitchen door.

"Boston Police depar-" Jane halted, her gun trained on none other than her mother, who was looking at her like she was still ten years old and playing cops and robbers with her brothers, getting underfoot.

"Janey, will you stop pointing that thing at me, you're gonna give your old mother a heart attack!" She instantly smiled when she saw Maura step into the room and hurried over to give her a motherly hug. "Maura, sweetie, I hope you don't mind that I borrowed your kitchen...it has more appliances than the one in your guest house..."

Maura chuckled, "You are welcome to use my kitchen whenever you-"

"Ma! I thought you were a burglar! How the hell did you get in here?" Jane none-too-subtly interrupted, harnessing her weapon with a scowl.

"The Doc gave me a key," Angela replied, taking said key from her pocket and showing Jane. Jane sighed as if she'd just heard the worst joke in history and turned to Maura.

"You gave her a key, Maura? Are you insane?" The last part came out as a low growl that the detective said between gritted teeth, something she did often when irritated. Maura ignored the warning tone of her voice as she always did.

"Yes, its for emergencies."

"And this was an emergency!" Angela piped up, moving to check on her cooking.

"Really, Ma? Are there a thousand people at the door begging for this food? Because otherwise I see no emergency." Jane groused.

"You've got a date! So go and put on something nice and park yourself at the diner table! You too, Maura." Angela grinned and the abruptly turned away as if to shield herself from the verbal blows she knew would come exploding from her daughter at any second. Sure enough, she heard a swift intake of breath and then...nothing. Confused, she turned to find Jane being glared at by Maura, who was using her most effective do not blow your top or there will be consequences expression. Jane was countering with her I will blow my top if I want glare but it was clear that Maura was the victor when Jane stomped off down the hall. After a quick smile in Angela's direction, Maura followed.

"You realise that most people wouldn't take this abuse." Maura said when she joined Jane in the guest bedroom she used whenever she slept over. Amusement laced her voice and earned her another glare from the tall detective.

"Most people don't have an insane mother who literally throws men at you from every angle," She paused to send an apologetic smile Maura's way, "I'm sorry she dragged you into this."

"Oh, its all right, I find it all rather exciting, actually." Maura beamed, then frowned when she realised Jane was making no move to change out of her work clothes. The detective kept a string of outfits at Maura's for emergencies, but seemed to be completely ignoring them.

"Aren't you going to change?"

"What? No, I look fine." Jane replied, bewildered, "If you think I'm going to fancy myself up for whatever shmuck she's picked up this time, you're crazy. I'm going to go in, flash my badge, hopefully watch him run out the door, and then I am going home for a nice long soak in the tub." That settled, Jane nodded with determination.

"Well I'mgoing to 'fancy' myself up, as you say. Statistics show that one in sixty-seven blind dates leads to a long lasting relationship, you know." Maura said, standing.

"Gee, a reason for Ma to keep doing this. Lets not share that little piece of information with her." She followed Maura into her impeccably clean bedroom where the doctor made a beeline for her sizeable wardrobe, and then stopped and turned to face Jane.

"Out." She ordered with a smirk.

"Out?" Jane echoed, her eyebrows so high they almost disappeared into her hair, "Why? I've seen you in your Victoria's secrets before!"

"Because I'm going to be removing today's underwear and replacing it with fresh undergarments." Maura replied, and turned back to her wardrobe. Jane remained still for a few moments, dumbstruck, a slight blush creeping into her cheeks as the image of Maura slipping out of a black teddy, a sultry smirk on her face, came unbidden to her mind. She abruptly turned and almost dashed out of the room in her haste to get away.

Back in the kitchen, Angela was half singing, half humming to herself when came back, looking a little dazed and distracted. Angela only noticed that Jane hadn't changed out of her work clothes, namely black slacks, a crisp white shirt and a black jacket. She huffed, displeased.

"I told you to get changed!" Jane's head snapped up to look at her mother. She'd forgotten about her mother's surprise in all the...confusion that Maura's words had caused. She shook her head but the damned vision wouldn't go away. Maybe she was going crazy. She should ask Maura to give her a CAT scan. Wearing full scrubs. No teddy in sight.

"Jane!" Again , Jane was jolted from her inner turmoil by Angela's insistent voice.

"What, Ma?"

"Your clothes, you look like a man when you're on the job, its unattractive to any prospective partners! Go change!"

"Ma, I'm not going along with this, whoever you've got coming along tonight is going to be disappointed when he turns up because I'm going to shoot him. And then you. A double homicide in the Isles household. Maura will love it."

Angela rolled her eyes. "Just go and wait in the dining room. And smile!"

Jane beamed sarcastically before her face resumed its usual scowl. She did as she was told though, and made her way into Maura's dining room. It was a lovely room, decorated with a perfect mixture of modern and antique furniture and various art pieces on the walls, like the rest of the house. It was fancy, something Jane wouldn't usually like, but with Maura, mealtimes here were warm and enjoyable. She made the surroundings infinitely more homely with her innocent smiles and kind eyes. She smiled unconsciously at the thought.

She then noticed that the long, dark oak table was only set for two. Confused, she turned for the kitchen door and came face to face with Maura, who was smirking knowingly at her.

"Woah!" Jane blurted as she almost crashed into the smaller woman. She hopped back a pace, wondering what the hell was going on and why everything seemed a little off kilter right now.

"What's going on?" Jane asked, somewhat worried now. She felt like she was dreaming, and everybody else in the dream knew something she didn't. Any minute now, a giant rabbit is going to tear the roof off of the house and eat me.

"Why aren't you two sitting down already?" Angela bustled into the room, arms laden with delicious smelling food which she set on the table.

"Ma, there are only two places set, and where the the hell are these dates?" All this confusion was starting to get on Jane's nerves. When Jane Rizzoli wasn't getting answers, she was getting annoyed.

"They're here, Jane," Maura explained, smiling still, "I'myour date, and you are mine." It was said so simply, as if it as the most normal situation in the world, as if it should be obvious that she and Maura were about to have a date, that Jane was completely at a loss as to what she should say or do. Part of her thought that maybe this as all just a set up, but the rational part of her remembered that Maura couldn't lie to save her life, was in fact incapable of lying altogether. She fell into one of the set places, dumbfounded.

Maura settled into her place, as graceful as a cat.

"Jane, talk to me." She quietly urged, looking a little worried by her friend's reaction to the circumstances. It seemed as if the tall detective had completely shut down and was now unreachable.

What Maura thought wasn't that far from the truth. Jane had indeed retreated inside herself to deal with all the new emotions that seemed to have been set free when confronted with the idea that there was something between her and Maura. Feelings that had been locked away and ignored because that's what Jane Rizzoli did with emotions that could potentially change her life; she pretended they weren't there, imagined they were something else so that everybody could be happy.

Maura's voice broke through the fog that clouded her mind and she blinked.

"W-what?"

"I said talk to me, Jane, tell me what you're feeling..." Maura tried again, thoroughly worried now.

"No...no, no...I can't do this, Maura. Wecan't do this. This is insane!"

"Is it?" Maura countered, watching Jane closely, too closely. Jane jumped up from her seat, agitated.

"Of course it is! There's...there's nothing between us! We're friends!"

"Friends can and often become more, Jane, seventy-five percent of relationships begin-"

"Don't, don't use science to bring some kind of twisted sense to this, Maura, I don't want to hear it. This isn't going to happen."

"I know you're worried, Jane. You're worried about our professional relationship, you're worried about what other people might think, and you're worried that things between us will change too much. But most of all," Maura stood and halted Jane's pacing with a soft hand on her wrist, as she had earlier in the day, "you're worried that you won't be able to stop yourself from falling in love with me. You're scared of being so vulnerable, and not having me to turn to if things go wrong." Slowly, Maura brought her hand up to gently cup Jane's jaw, "I'll always be here for you, Jane, no matter what happens...I've got your back..." This time, the words were whispered softly and intimately, as if Maura was trying to gain the trust of a wild stallion.

Jane looked tortured. Her eyes were like two black holes, and everything she was feeling at that moment swirled within their depths. They glistened with unshed tears, and Maura wasn't certain why until Jane wrenched herself away and headed for the door.

"No, Maura...no..." And then she was gone.

Jane drove around Boston for what seemed like hours before she finally pulled up outside her apartment. She trudged up the stairs to her front door, her footsteps heavy and her heart heavier. She let herself in and stopped when she saw Maura sitting on her couch. Her face was devoid of its usually warm smile and instead was painted with sadness.

"Jane, I-"

"What are you doing here, Maura?" Jane cut her off.

"I wanted to apologise for-"

"Yeah well I don't want to hear it." Jane snapped. She moved further into the room, avoiding eye contact with Maura and busily removing her holster and the weapon it contained. She went through to the bedroom to place it in her bedside drawer, methodically discharging the clip beforehand. She heard Maura follow her into the room.

"I believe we should talk about this." The doctor said, quietly.

"There's nothing to talk about." Jane insisted. She steeled herself and turned to face Maura, almost wincing when she saw pain there. The pain of rejection.

"Please. Jane, I didn't mean for it to happen this way..."

"Itis not going to happen at all, Maura..."

"Why not?" Maura asked, the sad tone of her voice making Jane's heart wrench in two. It was one thing to have denied her own happiness for so long, but to find out that Maura had been just as unhappy too? That really tore at her.

"There's a whole list of reasons why not..." Jane managed to say through the torrent of emotions that was wracking her body and making it hard to speak.

Once again, Maura softly crept closer to the detective who, cornered in her bedroom, had nowhere to run.

"Jane...we could spend all night talking about those reasons. I would happily tear each and every one of them down using logic and statistical fact until you have absolutely no ground to stand on." Jane couldn't suppress a small smile at that, "But as we both have very demanding jobs which require early morning attendance, I would rather spend that time doing this." And then she kissed Jane.

The kiss was chaste at first, almost hesitant, as if Maura was afraid Jane would retrieve her gun and shoot her. But ever so slowly, the detective began to respond.

Strong hands came to hold Maura's face, fingers threading through honey-blonde locks as Jane took over and melded her lips to the doctor's. She changed the slow pace of the kiss, upped the tempo as passion flared deep in her belly. Maura gripped the front of her jacket, hanging on as Jane's tongue came to meet hers and her knees subsequently became weak. She kissed back just as heatedly until they both needed air, at which point they came apart with an audible gasp.

Lips barely a centimetre apart, they stilled, each breathing deeply. Maura opened her eyes to seek out Jane's but found them closed still.

"Jane...?" She whispered, her heart beating so hard and fast she barely heard her own voice. Jane's eyes snapped open then, deep brown pools of desire that Maura felt she could happily drown in. Jane pushed her back until they fell onto the bed, taking care at the last minute to land on her hands so as not to fall heavily on top of the smaller woman. Maura shimmied up to the head of the bed and Jane followed, crawling over her, her right hand pushing what was surely a fancy such-a-fashion-idol skirt up over smooth and creamy thighs, allowing the detective to fit her body snugly between them. She lowered herself onto Maura, resting her weight on her elbows. The pathologist's arms snaked around her neck, holding her there, just in case she decided to bolt.

The earlier inferno seemed to have died down to a low simmer, and Maura feared that Jane was just now waking up to what had just happened, and would soon try making excuses and leave. But Jane had other ideas.

"You know how crazy this is, don't you?" Jane whispered, her always husky voice even huskier as want sizzled below every inch of her skin. Maura had unleashed her soul and now she was loath to lock it back up.

"Not crazy, Jane," Maura smiled, "this is a perfectly log-" Her words were swallowed when the detective kissed her, slowly and lingeringly. Maura moaned into the kiss, savouring the distinctive taste of Jane's mouth. She could probably name every single compound they were currently sharing but surprisingly, science seemed to be taking a back seat as something more primal took the wheel. She no longer felt the need to analyse and research, and only wanted to feel and touch and taste and smell.

"Hush," Jane purred when she finally released Maura's lips, "no more science tonight..." She kissed and nipped along Maura's jaw, shifting her body lower so she could comfortably move to her neck. She paused to study the two inch scar along the left side, looking stark white against Maura's flushed skin. Her heart clenched at the sight.

"I'm so sorry..." She murmured, her lips lightly grazing the abrasion as she talked. She placed soft kisses along the line, thanking god that she'd managed to stop Hoyt before it had become more than a harmless scratch.

In record time, Jane had divested them both of their clothes, and she continued her assault on Maura's body; kissing, sucking, nipping and stroking every inch of skin except those she knew would drive Maura wild.

"Jane!" Maura finally exploded, "You have thoroughly stimulated every part of my anatomy that I am no longer interested in having stimulated! If you don't change your tactics there will be consequences!"

Jane chuckled, her breath hot against Maura's shoulder which she'd just finished leaving her mark on, "Are we getting impatient, oh eager one?" She teased.

"Oh, we are getting impatient and furiously aroused!" Maura countered, then moaned when Jane sucked a swollen nipple into her mouth.

"Jeez," The detective playfully groused between flicking and tugging the hard bud, "here I am trying to make sweet, sweet love to you," she grazed the nipple with her teeth, causing Maura to flinch and grip the covers, "and all you want is a quickie..." She slipped and hand between their bodies and slid her fingers between the slick folds that Maura was so desperate for her to touch. Wetness coated them in seconds and acted as a guide, getting thicker and wetter as the long and slender digits found Maura's entrance and began massaging the tight, pulsating ring of flesh that exuded molten heat against her hand. She retreated to spread the new gush of arousal up and around the hard but silky clit that seemed to pound with every beat of Maura's heart. She felt the doctor shuddered and knew she wasn't far away from the precipice of pleasure that Jane would bring her to many more times this night.

Giving in, Jane sank her fingers into the hot sheath of Maura's sex, earning a loud gasp when she was all the way in and her thumb brushed the swollen and now very ready clit. She pressed her mouth to the doctor's, stifling the sounds of pleasure that Jane's neighbour's could surely hear. Maura gripped her shoulders and bucked her hips against the invasion, seeking oblivion, needing to come so much her sex was literally aching. Jane felt her clenching around her fingers, the grip excitingly strong. Finally, she pressed her thumb hard against Maura's clit and manipulated the flesh in slow circles. The explosive reaction that happened next literally felt like an earthquake was shaking the whole building.

Maura tensed and then bucked once, twice, three times before her body gave in the the orgasmic convulsions that had been held back for far too long. Her thighs gripped Jane's hips like a vice, the feeling almost painful for the detective. She held Jane to her with arms around her neck, as if holding on for dear life as every nerve ending in her body seemed to burst into flames that licked at her skin from the inside, making it crawl with white hot pleasure.

When she came down, she was truly spent.

Jane softly kissed her chest, her neck, her jaw and finally her mouth. Maura kissed back, albeit languidly, as if she was not fully aware of what she was doing. Minutes later when the world appeared to be spinning on its usual axis, she spoke.

"That was...quite satisfactory..." She rasped, realising that all her moaning had irritated her larynx and she'd lost her voice.

"Satisfactory! Are you kidding me!" Jane flopped back onto the bed, a great big sigh escaping her. She threw her arm over her eyes, which were rolling in their sockets. Maura chuckled and Jane could feel her moving around on the bed.

"Oh yes, I am quite satisfied now..." Jane felt hands on her thighs, gently spreading her legs apart. She allowed the intrusion, and then almost bucked off the bed when she felt what was surely Maura's tongue skating the length of her sex, "which means its your turn."

"Well...all right," Jane managed to get out between the quick spikes of pleasure Maura's tongue was bringing, "But if we're going...to make this...a regular thing...Jesus, Maura, that's good...I get to be...the butch one..."