Speaking a Dead Language (6/?)
Title: Speaking a Dead Language (6/?)
Rating: R
Pairing(s): Jane Rizzoli/Maura Isles
Summary: "Maura?"
Disclaimer: We don't own Rizzoli & Isles, this is not a part of the Jai Chronicles. Warning of domestic violence!
She had almost been back in Boston for three months, and things were starting to get better. The first month had been rocky, but after Jane’s interaction with Nicholas, the tension seemed to ease off just a tad. The second month was easier, but still somewhat awkward. At least now she could sit in the bullpen with them and talk without feeling too much out of the loop. Korsak and Frankie were actually making jokes that included her again, and Jane was smiling just a little more.
It was better this way was the only thing she could think while sitting on the edge of Frost’s desk, listening as Korsak told one of his stories. Glancing away from Korsak, Maura looked up when the door leading into the bullpen opened. Immediately, the color drained from her face and she could hear Frost laughing at something from behind her, but it barely registered.
“You okay, Maur?” Frankie asked, noticing that the medical examiner was looking a little pale. Korsak stopped in the middle of his story, looking over at the blonde as well.
“You okay, Doc?” he asked, moving to get up, but the sound of a stranger’s voice caused the tension in the room to skyrocket.
“Maura?”
Jane was content. She couldn’t exactly say happy but it was better than it had been in a very long time. Having Maura back in her life, even at an arm’s length, was both a relief and left her itching for more, even if more was only having her best friend back. But right now was better than when Maura had come back to Boston and every interaction was stilted, awkward and somewhat painful.
Typing up a report Jane wasn’t listening to Korsak’s story, she’d heard it before it had gained the embellishments. Frankie and Korsak’s questioning made Jane’s head whip up and a single glance at Maura’s face made the detective know something was up. And looking at the door she felt her eyes widen and her jaw would have dropped if it wasn’t clenched tightly. She could figure who this was and she wasn’t a fan.
“Michael.”
It took her a moment to get the single word out, but once she did, she felt her heart start to race again, moving away from the desk she tried to put on a smile, but it was forced. Much more so than any of the smiles she had given to Jane since coming back.
Tall, dark, and handsome was one way to describe Michael Casbrook. He exuded power and his blue eyes were a lot darker than his sons. His hair was thinning, but not enough to be noticeable by most people. He kept fingering the gold watch around his wrist, watching Maura.
“I told you I’d come,” he stated with a smile on his face, stepping closer to her.
Jane immediately distrusted him on sight. A power suit with a silk shirt and the very air that hovered around him spoke of wealth in a way that Maura never had, even in her designer dresses. Standing as well Jane crossed her arms over her chest and stared as belligerently, if politely, as possible at Maura’s husband.
Frost had a theory. And Jane would be willing to believe it. Especially if there was even another ounce proof.
“You did,” she stated softly, looking up at him with her hazel-green eyes. There was a moment in which nothing happened, and when Michael realized Maura wasn’t coming to him, he went to her. The medical examiner immediately tensed, but she didn’t step away. Her husband just smiled, hugging her tightly. She returned the awkward embrace before pulling away, standing next to him with his arm around her waist.
“You should introduce us, M.” he stated softly, glancing over at the medical examiner who tried to keep her smile in place as she nodded.
In turn, she pointed the three guys first, introducing them to her husband who introduced himself back. Then, there was Jane. Looking at her once best friend, Maura gestured to the only female detective.
“And this is Detective Rizzoli. Jane.”
The hairs on the back of Jane’s necks stood up as Michael approached. He raised her hackles but the small sensible part of Jane’s mind told her it could just be a bad case of jealousy. She might believe that if he didn’t make her gut start churning in more than just jealousy, it was the cop part of her that he set off as well as the woman who cared about Maura.
And he called her ‘M?’ Nobody called Maura that but Jane because she was the one that had coined the nickname, Maura’s first nickname. Now it really was the territorial part of her that was roused, or at least a little more so than the cop at this moment.
“Nice to meet you,” Jane said stiffly, shaking the proffered hand a little harder than necessary.
“It’s nice to meet you as well, Detective.” he answered with a smile, shaking Jane’s hand with as much force as she was shaking his.
The arm around her waist tightened, but she didn’t move an inch. She just smiled at Jane, trying to be reassuring to the detective, but it wasn’t just the brunette she was worried about. Frost was giving Michael this look that she had never seen on the younger man’s face, and it wasn’t a good one. Before she could do anything, however, Michael turned to her, pressing a quick, but still somewhat possessive, kiss against her lips before he let go entirely.
“I have business to attend to, but I’ll be back for you later.” he stated without giving Maura room to budge. She only nodded, returning the half smile he gave her before he nodded to the detective’s and left.
Maura didn’t hesitate either. “I should go finish my paperwork,“ she offered as a quick explanation when she turned away from her friends, tentative as they were, and started toward the elevator.
If his entire manner didn’t set Jane on edge, what was worse was the way that he talked to Maura. As if she weren’t infinitely more intelligent than he could ever hope to be, it made it impossible for the detective to ever like this Michael character. She was a little occupied glaring at the back of his head and didn’t hear Maura excuse herself until it was Maura who was out the door.
“I can’t stand that guy,” Jane growled half a minute later.
“You’re just jealous, Rizzoli.” Korsak cut in, but the truth was, he didn’t like the guy either. None of them did. He wondered how in the world someone like Maura Isles ended up with a man like that, but he knew from tons of experience that once you married someone, things were different.
“Cut it out, Vince.” Frost interjected, leaning back in his chair and watching Jane. She might be just a tad jealous, but the rest of it was pure instinct. He would see it on her face, and he felt about the same way.
“I’m not jealous,” Jane snarled, socking Korsak a little bit harder than she intended. She still watched the door, wanting Maura to come back through the door. When Maura had said she was married that man was not what Jane had pictured. The punk Fairfield, him Jane had understood but she didn’t comprehend what Maura had ever seen in the man she married.
Frankie had been largely quiet before giving his two cents worth. “He reminds me of you, Jane…a bit.” Outraged Jane thumped her brother on the head.
“Frankie, what are you smoking?”
“I could see that,” Korsak volunteered, still rubbing his shoulder. Frost kept silent, not wanting to get the hit by Jane. She might be his partner, but that didn’t mean she wasn’t above hurting him, and her punches did hurt. Instead, stood up and grabbed his coat.
“C’mon Jane. Let’s see if we can get anywhere with this case.”
Shrugging in to her coat as well Jane followed Frost out, grumbling a little. “You think so too don’t you?” Somehow her brother’s idea wasn’t that stupid, or Korsak wouldn’t have agreed. And Frost hadn’t put in his opinion, obviously because it was something going contrary to her opinion. Stopping him up short by grabbing his arm Jane looked at Frost, waiting for him to say it too.
Sighing, Frost looked Jane in the eye and nodded his head. “Yeah. I do,” he confirmed after a moment, wondering if his partner was just too blind to see it or if she really just didn’t see it. However, he also agreed with the female detective and he made that known as well. “I don’t like him.”
Frowning Jane settled her hands on her hip almost defensively. “I’m not like him she,” muttered defensively, but if all three of them saw it there must be something there. “Am I?” They weren’t detectives for nothing, they had to be able these kinds of things. All the same that didn’t mean she had to like the guy, they weren’t that much the same. “He rubs me the wrong way.”
“Honestly, Jane? He reminds me of you before you fixed it,” he stated, crossing his arms over his chest. He waited a moment before relaxing, nodding his head as he looked back at the building they had just left. “Doctor Isles looked like she’d seen a ghost.”
“I’m going to keep an eye on him. I don’t like this guy. And I’m not jealous,” she qualified defensively. Tossing Frost the keys Jane got in the car. “You were right though, there’s something going on there. I don’t like it.” She didn’t have to say that she wasn’t going to stand for it, that much was obvious.
Climbing into the driver’s side, Frost made sure that he buckled up before starting the car. “Of course I was right, Jane. I’m a detective,” he pointed out, grinning at her just a little before he pulled out.
------------
Nothing panned out on their interviews and Jane was in a worse mood than before. Heading down to the morgue was her next step, to find out if Maura had anything else for her. That was the only reason. But Jane’s lie sounded awful even to herself as she practiced it. But did she need a reason to go see her friend? No, she didn’t.
Stepping off the elevator Jane heard raised voices coming from the Morgue. Nobody raised their voices in the Morgue; people barely went there if at all possible. A sick feeling rose in her throat as Jane walked toward the glass doors, her hand hovering over her service weapon.
Maura stood with her back against one of her autopsy tables, gripping the edge of it so hard that her knuckles were white. Michael stood barely an arm’s length away, the expression on his face no longer as calm as it had been upstairs. He was gripping the medical examiner by her upper arms, effectively blocking her in.
“After dinner, you will come back to L.A. with me, Maura. Both you and that boy.” he stated, his hands tensing on her arms just a tad.
“Michael-” Maura knew better than to protest, and the slight look of painful ease that crossed over her family only lasted a moment before he dropped his hands entirely. Instead, he invaded her space a little more.
“You will listen to me, M-”
Both the cop and the person who cared more about Maura than she would willingly admit, out loud, didn’t like the way this scene looked. But she couldn’t, legally, do anything because in the eye of the law it was simply a slight dispute. Rapping loudly on the glass Jane sauntered in to the room, coming to a stop leaning against an autopsy table canting out the hip where her gun was holstered. “Well now…isn’t this cozy? Don’t let me interrupt.”
Hastily backing up and smiling a charming smile Michael greeted the detective. “I was just having a…discussion with my wife. Do you mind?”
“Not at all, continue. Just pretend I’m not here,” Jane said, faking her smile just as well as Michael could.
Maura felt herself relax with Jane so close. It was an automatic reaction, in the end. It always had been and probably always would be. Acting upon her sudden courage, she smiled a little at Michael, but it was hollow. “Tonight isn’t the best night for dinner,” she stated, looking over at Jane for a second before turning her eyes back to Michael.
Michael kept the smile on his face, not letting it falter despite the sudden chill that entered his blue eyes. “Maura-”
“It’s true. She’s got plans tonight; I mean I guess my parents will have to get over it, though. They love having Maura over for dinner. They have her over every week.” Jane could lie through her teeth and make it sound so sincere only because her parents used to have Maura over at the weekly Rizzoli dinners, but Michael wouldn’t know that. He seemed the type that, even if Maura had told him, he wouldn’t have heard it.
Glancing over at Jane, keeping the smile plastered on his face, he backed off. “Perhaps it would be better if I finished my paperwork tonight. I’ll see you when you get home then,” he stated before turning to leave. Maura didn’t let out the breath she was holding until she was completely sure that he was gone and not coming back. She was going to have to find a way to get Nicholas and avoiding being at the house for a few hours.
Watching Michael walk out of the Morgue, Jane felt a thrill of triumph and watched until he got on the elevator. “You really can come to dinner at my parents’. You know they’d love to see you. And I won’t be there; I’ve got…something to do. Think about it, you’re more than welcome there. And Nicholas would be too.” Jane smiled as best as she could for the moment. It was a pity that she was restrained by the law or Jane might have hit the smug ass, right in the face.
For a moment, all she could do was nod, gathering herself back up slowly. It always took a moment nowadays. “Thank you,” Maura whispered softly when she found her voice, looking over at Jane with a shaky smile. The red marks from Michael’s grip were already fading and she had an out without needing to find one herself. At this moment, Jane was once again her hero.
“It’s not a big deal, Maura. My parents really will love to have you there. And if you can stand a couple hours with Frankie, it won’t be too bad,” Jane offered with a shrug. Her mom had pestered both Jane and Frankie about getting Maura to come buy. Showing amazing tact, however, Angela hadn’t badgered her daughter too much. “I gotta get back to work, you gonna be okay, Maura?”
Smiling, this time a little more confident, Maura nodded. “I think I will go… thank you.” she replied, feeling grateful for the female detective. Faced with the second question though, she almost faltered. Instead, she reached out a hand and barely touched Jane’s arm before pulling away.
“Go back to work.”