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Entry tags:
Fic: Tonight I wanna do some drinkin': Wine (Rizzoli and Isles, Jane/Maura)
TITLE: Tonight I wanna do some drinkin': Wine
AUTHOR:![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
the_girl_20
FANDOM: Rizzoli and Isles
PAIRING: Jane/Maura
SUMMARY: Maura's first time in the Dirty Robber.
RATING: PG-13
WORD COUNT: ~3000
DISCLAIMER: Don't own 'em.
SPOILERS: None.
AUTHORS' NOTES: Part of a series based on this prompt: Jane/Maura, from the first meeting to where they are now (together or on the verge of it, idc) via the drinks they drink (each meeting should have some sort of beverage). Follows Coffee.
Maura rarely socialised with work colleagues. She’d tried it a few times over the years and it never worked out. She always ended up boring people with facts they didn’t want to know, or diagnosing things that people didn’t want to hear about. Once she had misunderstood a joke at a bar which resulted in her acquiring a rather unfortunate nickname from the detectives. No, it was best to keep work and social life separate.
That was until she met Jane Rizzoli. Jane Rizzoli who would badger and cajole her into making wholly uninformed suppositions at crime scenes without her even realising it. Jane Rizzoli who would strut into the morgue with two cans of tuna and a bag of chips and call it a balanced meal. Jane Rizzoli who smiled at Maura’s eccentricities rather than laugh at them behind her back. Jane Rizzoli who was rapidly becoming the best friend that Maura had ever had.
She’d been pleasantly surprised the first time Jane asked her to come out for drinks with the detectives after a case. Usually it took them much longer to include her. She’d turned the invitation down, along with the next few, citing prior engagements. It wasn’t a lie. She did have things to do; feed Bass, review her charitable endowments, watch that documentary on anthropology that was taking up space on her DVR. All legitimate pursuits. All of which could have waited.
Part of her desperately wanted to go out with the detectives. Both Jane and Detective Korsak had been nothing but nice to her. Detective Crowe and some of the others were not so pleasant, but Jane tended not to socialise with them, she’d noticed. Detective Frost was even newer to the department than she was, and a lovely man who had the awful affliction of being a homicide detective with a very strong aversion to dead bodies. She was sure that spending time with Jane, Korsak and Frost would be enjoyable. But as soon as she started to entertain thoughts of joining them at the nearby cop bar, flashes of her past social faux pas would come to mind and she would quickly quash the notion. The last thing she wanted was to alienate the only set of colleagues who treated her like a human being by unwittingly embarrassing them in public.
But of course, she had forgotten to factor Jane Rizzoli and her determination into that decision.
“Who’s the best detective in the world?”
Maura looked up from her paperwork to see Jane lounging against the doorway to her office. She smiled.
“Jane, I can’t possibly answer that question. I would need data on closure rates and conviction percentages, and even then I probably wouldn’t be able to make an accurate judgement due to the number of people who are involved in any given case and play a part in bringing it to tri-“
“Okay, okay.” Jane flopped into the seat on the opposite side of Maura’s desk and leaned her elbows on the surface. “That was the wrong question. I should’ve asked who your favourite detective is.”
Maura suppressed the urge to smile. She’d known the answer Jane had expected to her first question, just as she knew what the expected answer to this question. She was getting much better at reading Jane’s humour. She was nowhere near 100% accurate, as Jane seemed to spend most of her time being sarcastic and not saying what she meant, but she was getting better.
“My favourite detective?” She pursed up her lips in exaggerated thought. “Fictional or real?”
Jane sighed, but persevered. “Real.”
“Oh, then that’s easy.” She nodded. “Korsak.”
Maura bit her lip as she watched Jane’s eyes narrow. The detective pointed at her, accusingly.
“You know, I’m not sure I like it when you’re funny. You’re already gorgeous and intelligent. You need to leave me the funny or I got nothing.”
The rush of blood to her face and neck took her by surprise. Maura wasn’t a silly little girl who blushed whenever someone called her pretty. She hadn’t reached thirty-five without realising that she was aesthetically pleasing to the majority of the population. She also worked hard to help nature out by wearing clothes that accentuated her figure, styling her hair nicely and using make-up in shades that suited her skin tone. She was accustomed to people commenting on her looks. But when Jane did it, for some reason, she turned into a simpering schoolgirl.
“Jane.“ She did her best to sound like she was scolding the other woman, but Jane was looking at her with an expression that indicated she had noticed the effect her words had had on Maura. “You’re well aware that you are my favourite detective.”
They did this. They flirted. It was something they did. Sometimes their conversations almost felt like a competition to see who could flirt most blatantly without actually ever saying anything overt. Those appeared to be Jane’s parameters for their relationship and Maura stuck by them. And she planned to stick by them until such times as Jane told her that she wanted to take things further. Jane, for all of her swagger and confidence, seemed to be rather reserved when it came to romantic or sexual matters. Maura had brought up the subject a couple of times, only for it to be quickly shot down.
“Okay, now we’ve established that I,” Jane pointed at herself. “Jane Rizzoli, am your very favourite detective. And, let’s face it, I’m probably up there with the best in the world too...”
“I’m not willing to comment on that without statistical evidence.”
Jane ignored the interruption. “You should probably ask me how the case is going.”
Maura folded her hands on the desk and gave Jane her full attention. “How is the case going, Jane?”
“Well, Maura, let me tell you how the case is going, thank you for asking by the way.” Maura smiled warmly and shook her head, waiting for Jane to continue. “The case is solved. Done. Cracked. Finito. Over.”
“He confessed?” Maura was genuinely impressed. No-one had expected this guy to confess and they had very little to go on in terms of forensic evidence. It really was down to Jane’s skills as an investigator. Or, more likely, as an interrogator.
“He confessed.” Jane’s eyes were wide and she was almost bouncing in her seat as the adrenaline rush brought on by recalling the event coursed through her.
“That’s great, Jane. I’m sure the victim’s family will be glad to get some closure.”
Jane nodded, her face turning sombre for a moment as she thought of all of the people affected by the case. But her smile soon returned.
“You’re coming out for drinks with us tonight.”
Maura opened her mouth to protest but Jane held up both of her hands to stop her. The sheer fact that Jane was showing off her scars was enough to halt Maura in her tracks. Maura had observed Jane very closely over the last few months and she had noted that Jane hardly ever knowingly showed off her hands, unless she was making a point. Maura knew the basic story behind the scars; Jane had been abducted by a sociopath who had put scalpels through both of her hands, pinning her to the floor. Jane had told her this quite matter-of-factly when Maura had asked why Frost had been assigned as her new partner. Maura had done a little research into the case herself on the internet. She would never go so far as to read the case file, or Jane’s personal file. She wouldn’t invade Jane’s privacy like that.
Jane took her silence as an opportunity for further persuasion.
“C’mon Maura. You’re part of the team. When we solve a case, we go out as a team to celebrate. I’ve seen Frost drunk and I only just met him. C’mon. And don’t give me ‘prior engagement’. If you have somewhere to be, fine. But come for a drink first. One drink.”
Maura briefly considered lying and telling Jane she had other plans that required her to leave the station straight away. But even the thought of the deception set her heart racing and caused her respiration to increase. She controlled her breathing to ensure she wouldn’t pass out and looked over at Jane. Then Jane tilted her head and stuck out her lower lip.
“Please?”
And Maura was powerless.
“Fine. One drink.”
“Yes!” Jane actually pumped her fist. She practically jumped out of the chair and headed for the door. Probably so that Maura wouldn’t change her mind. She paused in the doorway and turned back around, pointing at Maura. “I’ll be down to get in you in a half hour. Make yourself presentable.”
Maura looked down at her outfit, her mouth open in horror; she didn’t have a change of clothes with her. She couldn’t socialise in the same clothes she’d worked in. Jane must have caught her expression.
“Maura.” She looked up. “I’m kidding. What you have on is fine. Believe me, you’ll outclass everyone in the place by a mile anyway.”
It was possibly the sweetest thing anyone had ever said to her. She smiled.
“Thank you, Jane. I’ll see you soon.”
Jane winked at her. “Yes, you will.”
Then she was gone and Maura was left wondering why on earth she’d agreed to this.
---
The Dirty Robber was already crowded when Jane and Maura arrived. Jane manoeuvred her way through the sea of bodies with practised ease. Maura did her best to keep up, barely resisting the urge to reach out and grab onto the back of Jane’s jacket so as not to lose her.
The came to an abrupt stop when Jane reached a table that Frost and Korsak were seated at, nursing beer bottles.
“Hey Doc!” Korsak greeted her warmly. “So Janie finally convinced you to come out with us, huh? I’m glad, ‘cause I gotta tell ya, she was startin’ to doubt her charms.”
“I...” Maura couldn’t bring herself to look at Jane and felt herself blushing again for no good reason. “Yes, I’ve come to celebrate the team’s success with the case.”
“Pull up a pew.” Korsak shifted over on his side of the booth to leave room for her. “It’s Rizzoli’s round.”
“Of course it is,” Jane said. “Beers all round?”
Maura considered letting Jane buy her a beer and just not drinking it. But that would be rude, and it would not go unnoticed; she was sitting with three detectives, after all.
“Could I have wine instead?”
Jane did not appear surprised by this request.
“Sure, what kind?”
“Oh.” Maura tried to think of something generic as she doubted that the Dirty Robber carried specific vintages. “Something light is fine. A Valpolicella or similar.”
Jane’s laugh was something Maura had grown very fond of. Even now, when Jane appeared to be laughing at her, Maura found herself very taken with the sound.
“I kinda meant red or white. But you better come with me if you want it to be more specific than that.”
So, once again, Maura found herself trailing through the crowd behind Jane. She was quite relieved of the excuse not to stay with Frost and Korsak. While she liked them both well enough, she felt that there was greater potential to say something that would be regarded as strange if Jane wasn’t there. Jane somehow managed to know where she was coming from a lot of the time, and, even when she didn’t, she would use humour to make the situation comfortable rather than awkward.
They made it to the bar, thanks to Jane shouldering a number of bodies out of the way. As they waited to be served, Maura was being jostled by people coming and going and trying to carry drinks. Almost unconsciously, Jane stepped back from the bar and urged Maura to move in front of her so that she was shielded from the worst of it. Maura smiled to herself as she felt her body react to the sensation of Jane pressing against her back.
“What do you want, Rizzoli?” The bartender could use some work on his customer service skills, but Jane seemed unperturbed.
“Three beers and...do you have any Valpolicella?”
Maura closed her eyes as Jane slipped into a very natural Italian accent as she asked for the wine. Hearing Jane’s deep voice wrap around those vowel sounds and lengthen the consonants almost made her physically shiver.
“C’mon Rizzoli, you know we don’t serve food after six. You want pasta, you go to your mama’s house, okay?”
“It’s a wine, Murray. But you better gimme whatever you have that’s red.”
While she was ordering, Jane had moved closer to the bar again, forcing Maura to shift a little to the side. Jane’s arm was loosely around her waist and Maura turned a little so that she was facing Jane. A sudden hand on her hip was an unwelcome intrusion into the little bubble they’d created and Maura turned quickly to face the owner of the hand. A large, uniformed police officer loomed over her. He turned to speak over his shoulder, his hand moving from her hip to her backside. She tried to move away but there was no room.
“Jesus, she is just as good from the front, guys.” He turned back to her. “I never saw you in here before, sweetheart. Where you been hidin’, huh? You a secretary up in homicide or somethin’?”
Before she could reply, she felt Jane move. An arm flashed out, pushing the guy away roughly.
“She’s the Chief Medical Examiner, Crolla. And if you don’t get your fucking mangy paw off her ass right now, I’ll kick you so hard in the balls that you’ll be using them as a neck pillow.”
The hand was immediately removed from her posterior and Jane’s arm came about her waist again, pulling her back against her. The big guy held his hands up.
“Jeez, I’m sorry, Rizzoli. I...I...I’m sorry Doc, I didn’t realise.”
Maura nodded at him, wondering why it made a difference that she was the Chief Medical Examiner. Would it have been acceptable to maul her if she had been a secretary? Or was his apology because of Jane’s quite graphic threat and clear possessive body language? She turned back around, noting that Jane tightened her grip around her waist and revelling in the close proximity it brought them into. She was well aware that a primitive part of her brain had just gone into overdrive, identifying Jane as a worthy and capable protector and potential mate. She kept her head down to hide the flush on her cheeks, but allowed herself to lean into Jane’s embrace.
“You okay?” Jane had bent her neck to try to see Maura’s face, and her voice was soft, intimate, next to her ear.
She looked up into Jane’s concerned eyes and smiled to show she was unharmed.
“I’m fine.”
Jane sighed. “I guess idiots like that are the reason you didn’t want to come out with us in the first place, huh?”
“Not really.” She’d come to expect that kind of behaviour from men after they’d had a few drinks. It was tribal behaviour; displaying overt mating rituals in front of companions to demonstrate strength and virility. Most of them had big mouths, but if Jane hadn’t intervened, Maura’s fairly sure she could’ve gotten rid of him herself with very little effort.
“I was never in any jeopardy, Jane.” Feeling daring, she tugged on the collar of Jane’s shirt. “I had my favourite detective to protect me.”
Jane’s eyes widened and Maura was gratified to notice that her pupils dilated significantly at her words. She was prevented from replying by the arrival of their drinks. Jane had to let go of her, then, and Maura felt cold without the contact, even though she knew the temperature in the room was exactly the same as it had been previously. Jane dropped some bills on the bar and picked up the three bottles in one hand and Maura’s glass in the other. This time, Maura did hang on to the back of Jane’s jacket as they moved through the crowd.
The men gave Jane some friendly abuse for taking so long, but accepted their bottles. Maura slid into her place beside Korsak and Jane took a seat beside Frost. She slid the glass of wine across the table.
“I’m sure it’s disgusting, but I’ll make sure Murray gets something decent in if this is gonna be a regular thing.”
Jane’s voice was hopeful, as was her expression.
“Well, I don’t want you to go to any trouble...” Maura began, but Jane shook her head.
“It’s no trouble. This place could do with a little class.”
She looked at each of the detectives in turn, trying to decide if they would object to her involvement in their after work activities. She saw nothing to indicate that it would bother them.
“I’d like to make it a regular thing.” She allowed her eyes to come to rest on Jane. “If none of you mind.”
“’Course not, Doc. You’re one of us. ” Frost held out his fist. She looked down at it, then back up into his eyes, confused. He smiled kindly. “You, uh, punch it, Doc.”
“Oh, of course.” She daintily punched his fist with her own, causing Jane to snort beer down her nose.
“Alright, alright.” Jane held up her bottle. “To the best team in the world ever.”
She was looking at Maura, expecting her to correct the extreme hyperbole. But Maura just smiled and clinked her glass against the three bottles.
“Cheers!”
She took a sip of her wine. It was revolting. She smiled.
AUTHOR:
the_girl_20FANDOM: Rizzoli and Isles
PAIRING: Jane/Maura
SUMMARY: Maura's first time in the Dirty Robber.
RATING: PG-13
WORD COUNT: ~3000
DISCLAIMER: Don't own 'em.
SPOILERS: None.
AUTHORS' NOTES: Part of a series based on this prompt: Jane/Maura, from the first meeting to where they are now (together or on the verge of it, idc) via the drinks they drink (each meeting should have some sort of beverage). Follows Coffee.
Maura rarely socialised with work colleagues. She’d tried it a few times over the years and it never worked out. She always ended up boring people with facts they didn’t want to know, or diagnosing things that people didn’t want to hear about. Once she had misunderstood a joke at a bar which resulted in her acquiring a rather unfortunate nickname from the detectives. No, it was best to keep work and social life separate.
That was until she met Jane Rizzoli. Jane Rizzoli who would badger and cajole her into making wholly uninformed suppositions at crime scenes without her even realising it. Jane Rizzoli who would strut into the morgue with two cans of tuna and a bag of chips and call it a balanced meal. Jane Rizzoli who smiled at Maura’s eccentricities rather than laugh at them behind her back. Jane Rizzoli who was rapidly becoming the best friend that Maura had ever had.
She’d been pleasantly surprised the first time Jane asked her to come out for drinks with the detectives after a case. Usually it took them much longer to include her. She’d turned the invitation down, along with the next few, citing prior engagements. It wasn’t a lie. She did have things to do; feed Bass, review her charitable endowments, watch that documentary on anthropology that was taking up space on her DVR. All legitimate pursuits. All of which could have waited.
Part of her desperately wanted to go out with the detectives. Both Jane and Detective Korsak had been nothing but nice to her. Detective Crowe and some of the others were not so pleasant, but Jane tended not to socialise with them, she’d noticed. Detective Frost was even newer to the department than she was, and a lovely man who had the awful affliction of being a homicide detective with a very strong aversion to dead bodies. She was sure that spending time with Jane, Korsak and Frost would be enjoyable. But as soon as she started to entertain thoughts of joining them at the nearby cop bar, flashes of her past social faux pas would come to mind and she would quickly quash the notion. The last thing she wanted was to alienate the only set of colleagues who treated her like a human being by unwittingly embarrassing them in public.
But of course, she had forgotten to factor Jane Rizzoli and her determination into that decision.
“Who’s the best detective in the world?”
Maura looked up from her paperwork to see Jane lounging against the doorway to her office. She smiled.
“Jane, I can’t possibly answer that question. I would need data on closure rates and conviction percentages, and even then I probably wouldn’t be able to make an accurate judgement due to the number of people who are involved in any given case and play a part in bringing it to tri-“
“Okay, okay.” Jane flopped into the seat on the opposite side of Maura’s desk and leaned her elbows on the surface. “That was the wrong question. I should’ve asked who your favourite detective is.”
Maura suppressed the urge to smile. She’d known the answer Jane had expected to her first question, just as she knew what the expected answer to this question. She was getting much better at reading Jane’s humour. She was nowhere near 100% accurate, as Jane seemed to spend most of her time being sarcastic and not saying what she meant, but she was getting better.
“My favourite detective?” She pursed up her lips in exaggerated thought. “Fictional or real?”
Jane sighed, but persevered. “Real.”
“Oh, then that’s easy.” She nodded. “Korsak.”
Maura bit her lip as she watched Jane’s eyes narrow. The detective pointed at her, accusingly.
“You know, I’m not sure I like it when you’re funny. You’re already gorgeous and intelligent. You need to leave me the funny or I got nothing.”
The rush of blood to her face and neck took her by surprise. Maura wasn’t a silly little girl who blushed whenever someone called her pretty. She hadn’t reached thirty-five without realising that she was aesthetically pleasing to the majority of the population. She also worked hard to help nature out by wearing clothes that accentuated her figure, styling her hair nicely and using make-up in shades that suited her skin tone. She was accustomed to people commenting on her looks. But when Jane did it, for some reason, she turned into a simpering schoolgirl.
“Jane.“ She did her best to sound like she was scolding the other woman, but Jane was looking at her with an expression that indicated she had noticed the effect her words had had on Maura. “You’re well aware that you are my favourite detective.”
They did this. They flirted. It was something they did. Sometimes their conversations almost felt like a competition to see who could flirt most blatantly without actually ever saying anything overt. Those appeared to be Jane’s parameters for their relationship and Maura stuck by them. And she planned to stick by them until such times as Jane told her that she wanted to take things further. Jane, for all of her swagger and confidence, seemed to be rather reserved when it came to romantic or sexual matters. Maura had brought up the subject a couple of times, only for it to be quickly shot down.
“Okay, now we’ve established that I,” Jane pointed at herself. “Jane Rizzoli, am your very favourite detective. And, let’s face it, I’m probably up there with the best in the world too...”
“I’m not willing to comment on that without statistical evidence.”
Jane ignored the interruption. “You should probably ask me how the case is going.”
Maura folded her hands on the desk and gave Jane her full attention. “How is the case going, Jane?”
“Well, Maura, let me tell you how the case is going, thank you for asking by the way.” Maura smiled warmly and shook her head, waiting for Jane to continue. “The case is solved. Done. Cracked. Finito. Over.”
“He confessed?” Maura was genuinely impressed. No-one had expected this guy to confess and they had very little to go on in terms of forensic evidence. It really was down to Jane’s skills as an investigator. Or, more likely, as an interrogator.
“He confessed.” Jane’s eyes were wide and she was almost bouncing in her seat as the adrenaline rush brought on by recalling the event coursed through her.
“That’s great, Jane. I’m sure the victim’s family will be glad to get some closure.”
Jane nodded, her face turning sombre for a moment as she thought of all of the people affected by the case. But her smile soon returned.
“You’re coming out for drinks with us tonight.”
Maura opened her mouth to protest but Jane held up both of her hands to stop her. The sheer fact that Jane was showing off her scars was enough to halt Maura in her tracks. Maura had observed Jane very closely over the last few months and she had noted that Jane hardly ever knowingly showed off her hands, unless she was making a point. Maura knew the basic story behind the scars; Jane had been abducted by a sociopath who had put scalpels through both of her hands, pinning her to the floor. Jane had told her this quite matter-of-factly when Maura had asked why Frost had been assigned as her new partner. Maura had done a little research into the case herself on the internet. She would never go so far as to read the case file, or Jane’s personal file. She wouldn’t invade Jane’s privacy like that.
Jane took her silence as an opportunity for further persuasion.
“C’mon Maura. You’re part of the team. When we solve a case, we go out as a team to celebrate. I’ve seen Frost drunk and I only just met him. C’mon. And don’t give me ‘prior engagement’. If you have somewhere to be, fine. But come for a drink first. One drink.”
Maura briefly considered lying and telling Jane she had other plans that required her to leave the station straight away. But even the thought of the deception set her heart racing and caused her respiration to increase. She controlled her breathing to ensure she wouldn’t pass out and looked over at Jane. Then Jane tilted her head and stuck out her lower lip.
“Please?”
And Maura was powerless.
“Fine. One drink.”
“Yes!” Jane actually pumped her fist. She practically jumped out of the chair and headed for the door. Probably so that Maura wouldn’t change her mind. She paused in the doorway and turned back around, pointing at Maura. “I’ll be down to get in you in a half hour. Make yourself presentable.”
Maura looked down at her outfit, her mouth open in horror; she didn’t have a change of clothes with her. She couldn’t socialise in the same clothes she’d worked in. Jane must have caught her expression.
“Maura.” She looked up. “I’m kidding. What you have on is fine. Believe me, you’ll outclass everyone in the place by a mile anyway.”
It was possibly the sweetest thing anyone had ever said to her. She smiled.
“Thank you, Jane. I’ll see you soon.”
Jane winked at her. “Yes, you will.”
Then she was gone and Maura was left wondering why on earth she’d agreed to this.
---
The Dirty Robber was already crowded when Jane and Maura arrived. Jane manoeuvred her way through the sea of bodies with practised ease. Maura did her best to keep up, barely resisting the urge to reach out and grab onto the back of Jane’s jacket so as not to lose her.
The came to an abrupt stop when Jane reached a table that Frost and Korsak were seated at, nursing beer bottles.
“Hey Doc!” Korsak greeted her warmly. “So Janie finally convinced you to come out with us, huh? I’m glad, ‘cause I gotta tell ya, she was startin’ to doubt her charms.”
“I...” Maura couldn’t bring herself to look at Jane and felt herself blushing again for no good reason. “Yes, I’ve come to celebrate the team’s success with the case.”
“Pull up a pew.” Korsak shifted over on his side of the booth to leave room for her. “It’s Rizzoli’s round.”
“Of course it is,” Jane said. “Beers all round?”
Maura considered letting Jane buy her a beer and just not drinking it. But that would be rude, and it would not go unnoticed; she was sitting with three detectives, after all.
“Could I have wine instead?”
Jane did not appear surprised by this request.
“Sure, what kind?”
“Oh.” Maura tried to think of something generic as she doubted that the Dirty Robber carried specific vintages. “Something light is fine. A Valpolicella or similar.”
Jane’s laugh was something Maura had grown very fond of. Even now, when Jane appeared to be laughing at her, Maura found herself very taken with the sound.
“I kinda meant red or white. But you better come with me if you want it to be more specific than that.”
So, once again, Maura found herself trailing through the crowd behind Jane. She was quite relieved of the excuse not to stay with Frost and Korsak. While she liked them both well enough, she felt that there was greater potential to say something that would be regarded as strange if Jane wasn’t there. Jane somehow managed to know where she was coming from a lot of the time, and, even when she didn’t, she would use humour to make the situation comfortable rather than awkward.
They made it to the bar, thanks to Jane shouldering a number of bodies out of the way. As they waited to be served, Maura was being jostled by people coming and going and trying to carry drinks. Almost unconsciously, Jane stepped back from the bar and urged Maura to move in front of her so that she was shielded from the worst of it. Maura smiled to herself as she felt her body react to the sensation of Jane pressing against her back.
“What do you want, Rizzoli?” The bartender could use some work on his customer service skills, but Jane seemed unperturbed.
“Three beers and...do you have any Valpolicella?”
Maura closed her eyes as Jane slipped into a very natural Italian accent as she asked for the wine. Hearing Jane’s deep voice wrap around those vowel sounds and lengthen the consonants almost made her physically shiver.
“C’mon Rizzoli, you know we don’t serve food after six. You want pasta, you go to your mama’s house, okay?”
“It’s a wine, Murray. But you better gimme whatever you have that’s red.”
While she was ordering, Jane had moved closer to the bar again, forcing Maura to shift a little to the side. Jane’s arm was loosely around her waist and Maura turned a little so that she was facing Jane. A sudden hand on her hip was an unwelcome intrusion into the little bubble they’d created and Maura turned quickly to face the owner of the hand. A large, uniformed police officer loomed over her. He turned to speak over his shoulder, his hand moving from her hip to her backside. She tried to move away but there was no room.
“Jesus, she is just as good from the front, guys.” He turned back to her. “I never saw you in here before, sweetheart. Where you been hidin’, huh? You a secretary up in homicide or somethin’?”
Before she could reply, she felt Jane move. An arm flashed out, pushing the guy away roughly.
“She’s the Chief Medical Examiner, Crolla. And if you don’t get your fucking mangy paw off her ass right now, I’ll kick you so hard in the balls that you’ll be using them as a neck pillow.”
The hand was immediately removed from her posterior and Jane’s arm came about her waist again, pulling her back against her. The big guy held his hands up.
“Jeez, I’m sorry, Rizzoli. I...I...I’m sorry Doc, I didn’t realise.”
Maura nodded at him, wondering why it made a difference that she was the Chief Medical Examiner. Would it have been acceptable to maul her if she had been a secretary? Or was his apology because of Jane’s quite graphic threat and clear possessive body language? She turned back around, noting that Jane tightened her grip around her waist and revelling in the close proximity it brought them into. She was well aware that a primitive part of her brain had just gone into overdrive, identifying Jane as a worthy and capable protector and potential mate. She kept her head down to hide the flush on her cheeks, but allowed herself to lean into Jane’s embrace.
“You okay?” Jane had bent her neck to try to see Maura’s face, and her voice was soft, intimate, next to her ear.
She looked up into Jane’s concerned eyes and smiled to show she was unharmed.
“I’m fine.”
Jane sighed. “I guess idiots like that are the reason you didn’t want to come out with us in the first place, huh?”
“Not really.” She’d come to expect that kind of behaviour from men after they’d had a few drinks. It was tribal behaviour; displaying overt mating rituals in front of companions to demonstrate strength and virility. Most of them had big mouths, but if Jane hadn’t intervened, Maura’s fairly sure she could’ve gotten rid of him herself with very little effort.
“I was never in any jeopardy, Jane.” Feeling daring, she tugged on the collar of Jane’s shirt. “I had my favourite detective to protect me.”
Jane’s eyes widened and Maura was gratified to notice that her pupils dilated significantly at her words. She was prevented from replying by the arrival of their drinks. Jane had to let go of her, then, and Maura felt cold without the contact, even though she knew the temperature in the room was exactly the same as it had been previously. Jane dropped some bills on the bar and picked up the three bottles in one hand and Maura’s glass in the other. This time, Maura did hang on to the back of Jane’s jacket as they moved through the crowd.
The men gave Jane some friendly abuse for taking so long, but accepted their bottles. Maura slid into her place beside Korsak and Jane took a seat beside Frost. She slid the glass of wine across the table.
“I’m sure it’s disgusting, but I’ll make sure Murray gets something decent in if this is gonna be a regular thing.”
Jane’s voice was hopeful, as was her expression.
“Well, I don’t want you to go to any trouble...” Maura began, but Jane shook her head.
“It’s no trouble. This place could do with a little class.”
She looked at each of the detectives in turn, trying to decide if they would object to her involvement in their after work activities. She saw nothing to indicate that it would bother them.
“I’d like to make it a regular thing.” She allowed her eyes to come to rest on Jane. “If none of you mind.”
“’Course not, Doc. You’re one of us. ” Frost held out his fist. She looked down at it, then back up into his eyes, confused. He smiled kindly. “You, uh, punch it, Doc.”
“Oh, of course.” She daintily punched his fist with her own, causing Jane to snort beer down her nose.
“Alright, alright.” Jane held up her bottle. “To the best team in the world ever.”
She was looking at Maura, expecting her to correct the extreme hyperbole. But Maura just smiled and clinked her glass against the three bottles.
“Cheers!”
She took a sip of her wine. It was revolting. She smiled.