"Uh, you'ah hawt."

The doctor who had entered Giovanni's curtained off area regarded her patient for a moment. "And you were quite feverish Mr. Gilberti. Try not to swallow any more keys, does that sound doable?"

Giovanni looked up, "You've got the key? Thank gahd- Jane won'[t kill me."

The doctor took her hand from her pocket and held up the key. "Freshly sterilized. I hope this Jane was worth the pain."

"No.. no," He tried to sit up, but winced with pain, "She's just my- we grew up togethah and she was bein' a dickwad 'bout somethin'. Ah, but, is there'a phone to call them on?"

oOOOOo

Maura slowly woke and realized that she and Jane were in the exact same position that they'd been in the last time she'd woken up, except for their current lack of clothes.

Jane's phone rang and she groaned, "If that's Korsak."

Maura reached across Jane and lifted the phone. They both frowned at the caller ID, Mass Gen. Jane took it from Maura and answered it. "Rizzoli." She let out a breath, "G- what's- oh… yes, of course, we'll be there." Jane sighed, "You're always- hilarious Giovanni, but don't use 'em all up on me."

She listened for another moment before she ended the call, "Apparently the key didn't make it through. Giovanni's at the hospital. Wanted to know if we could bring him home."

"He'll give us the key?"

Jane looked over her shoulder, "Oh, no, no… We're going to unlock the cuffs and then he gets to keep the key and the cuffs."

"Jane."

Jane sat up and helped Maura to sit as well, "Please Maura, for once I just want to- just give me until tonight. To- find an answer, or hell, the right question."

Maura shook her head and stood, "No. I know the answer."

Jane stood, "You always do."

"It's called the Kinsey scale. Zero is entirely heterosexual. Six is entirely homosexual."

Jane interrupted Maura, "Oh, like the movie Kinsey, with Qui-Gon Jinn guy in it. That was a real thing? I thought it was fiction. It was a weird movie."

"As I was saying-"

Jane gave Maura a sheepish smile, "Sorry- Doctor Isles.."

That brought a reflexive smile to Maura's face, "You rarely call me that anymore… Detective Rizzoli."

Jane chuckled, "Yeah, only when I want to remind people they shouldn't screw with my 'smarter than them and everyone they're ever gonna meet' friend. Okay, so… Mr. Kinsey?"

"Basically he thought that humans weren't simply straight or gay, that there were gradations between only heterosexual and only homosexual. Of course, with time, now there are many scientists who believe that his scale, while a good start, is a much too simplistic way to look at our sexuality, that there are other parts to it, like our biological sex, not to mention our gender identity-" Maura paused, "Jane, you can stop me at any point."

During Maura's explanation Jane had clasped Maura's hand again, "Why?"

"Because I believe I may be rambling. We should pick up Giovanni."

"He'll keep." Jane paused, "Well, I know that I have two Xes, and except for a few years when I was very young I've always enjoyed being a woman. So, with this -scale?" Jane looked at Maura, who nodded, "Basically I thought I was a zero, but maybe I'm a one or a two?"

"Yes, according to Kinsey's work. You're most like a one, two or three."

"Feeling better?"

Maura frowned, "Better? Oh, that's why you let me speak, ramble on, you thought it was what I needed." Maura kissed Jane, "Thank you."

"So. I have a plan. Today we pick Giovanni up. Get uncuffed. Maybe solve a murder. Tomorrow we go to work, come back here or my apartment, go about our lives. We keep doing what we've been doing, but with more-"

"Kissing?"

Jane smirked and took a step towards the bathroom, "I was thinking sex, but, sure, we can go nineteen fifties too."

"Jane- are you sure?"

The twinkle didn't leave the brunette's eyes, "That I wanna kiss you? Well, you are hawt-" Maura sighed and Jane went from smirking to serious as she took Maura's free hand with her own, "Sorry. I don't really know Kinsey from Joey. I don't know if this makes me straight but in love with you, or if it makes me a lesbian, or bisexual, or maybe from the planet Alpha Centurai."

Maura interrupted, "It's not a-"

"Shush, I'm trying to- look, all I know is that it has never felt -right with anyone that I've been with. I don't mean in bed, that part has always been good, great with almost any of the guys. But when I woke up with your arms around me, it felt- something clicked in my brain. It was like when I learned to ride a bike. My father took off the training wheels and for weeks I fell off and fell off and fell off and then one afternoon, it wasn't any different from the previous afternoons, and yet, it suddenly all made sense, and I was riding with no training wheels."

"The men were the training wheels?"

Jane chuckled, then kissed Maura, "Good metaphor?" Maura nodded and Jane gave her another tug, "Practice makes perfect?"

Maura shook her head, though it was with a smile, "Is the proper sports reference that you're a- rookie?"

Jane laughed as they slipped into the bathroom.

oOOOOo

"He asked you out? You said no."

Doctor Alana Curry cleared her throat, "Ah, actually, I- sort of said- yes."

The nurse sighed, "Alana- really, he's so-"

Alana smiled, "Perfect? I signed him out. I'm not his doctor and-"

The nurse held up a hand, "Just make sure you prepare yourself for heartbreak. He seems like a player-"

Alana shrugged as a blonde and brunette approached. The brunette spoke, "Giovanni Gilberti?"

Alana tilted her head to one side, "The Detective and hot Doctah?"

Jane rolled her eyes, "Yes. We'd appreciate the key to his cuffs."

Alana gestured down the hall, "He wanted to give it to you himself." She glanced down at the handcuffs, "Perhaps so you won't press charges?"

Jane shook her head, but it was Maura who spoke, "We simply want to be out of the handcuffs, we won't be pressing charges."

"Huh- he must be a good friend then."

Jane paused as they got to Giovanni's room, "We have a-"

Maura finished Jane's thought, "Complicated relationship."

They entered, "Janie… Doc."

"G- the key."

He reached over to the table and handed it to Maura. She unlocked her cuff, then Jane's. Jane took the cuffs and key and put them on the bedside table. "What were you thinking G?"

Giovanni shrugged, "Wasn't I guess- I paid though didn't I-"

Jane stared at Giovanni for a long moment. Maura put a hand on Jane's shoulder and Jane sighed, "Do you need anything Giovanni? Ride home?"

Giovanni smirked and sat up, "You two don't wanna be alone?"

Jane put a finger on Giovanni's forehead and pushed him back down to the bed. "Don't push it Gilberti…"

He smiled, "Nah- I'll be fine Janie…"

Jane's phone rang. It was Korsak. "We should get back to the case, but G-"

He held up a hand, "I'll only use 'em for good, not evil- I sweah."

Jane answered her phone, "Rizzoli. Yeah, yeah, no- she's with me." Jane paused, "You're hilarious Korsak. We're on our way."

She whacked Giovanni on the thigh just a bit too hard, "Call my Ma when you get outta here okay?"

He gave a nod and the two women left the room, "You haven't changed ya mind have ya Lanna?"

Alana smiled, "Not yet. Doctor Randolph should be in soon to sign you out." She paused, "And tell you to never eat a key again."

oOOOOo

Jane got into the driver's side of her car and Maura slid into the passenger side. "What does Korsak have?"

Jane sighed as she started the car, "Another body."

Maura reached across the center console and gripped Jane's right hand. "Jane, we'll find this killer just like the others."

"Of course we will, that, I never thought differently." Jane looked down at their hands, "We're not cuffed anymore you know."

Maura took her hand back, "Oh, I didn't even think about work."

Jane smiled and caught Maura's hand again as she started the car, "See, now you've got proof that this is a real thing. You didn't analyze." She paused, "As for work, you gotta be the one to break it to the lab gremlin or Susie'll kill me for taking you off the market."

Maura frowned, "Susie Chang? Why?"

Jane glanced over at Maura, "She has a crush on you Maur-"

"Ah, of course. And do you plan on being open about us with your fellow Detectives?"

Jane pulled the car up to the scene and put it in park, then turned towards Maura, "That depends on you."

Maura was silent. She understood what Jane was asking and she wasn't going to rush her decision on the matter. Finally she brought Jane's hand to her lips and kissed it. "I can see no logical reason to keep this from anyone. Let the world know."

Jane and Maura got out of the car and started towards the police tape. Jane had a thought and laughed mostly to herself. Maura glanced over, "You find something humorous?"

"Yeah. My Ma's gonna love this, us."

Maura frowned for a heartbeat and then understanding dawned on her face, "Ah, yes, the 'Doctor in the family'." She paused, "And your brothers?"

Jane smirked as they ducked under the yellow tape, "I can beat 'em both up. And they already love ya…" She stopped at the open front door of the house and took a deep breath. "Right. So. Let's solve these murders."

oOOOOo

Fin ~ December 17th, 2013