This is for my friend Anna, who made a comment the other day about wanting more Christmas fics.

This is pre-Rizzles...ish. You'll see what I mean.

Comments about the new chief medical examiner had been floating around for several weeks now. Some muttered under breath, others said outright.

Detective Jane Rizzoli figured she'd probably heard them all, but to her knowledge, at least in her presence, none had been said directly to the new M.E.

It all kinda pissed her off. No, scratch that. It really pissed her off.

Jane had only worked two cases with the socially awkward, well-dressed, well-mannered genius, but none of their exchanges had led her to believe any of the things she'd heard. It had gotten to the point that she had begun to defend the woman's honor, all but spitting fire at anyone who dared utter a disrespectful word.

Unsurprisingly to Jane, her strong defense had also sparked comments about herself. She knew. She overheard them. A few times, some of the other officers even had the balls to say them to her directly.

Figures she'd be into the ladies.

Ooooh, Rizzoli. Got the hots for the Queen of the Dead?

Gotten into her pants already, eh, Rizzoli?

She rolled her eyes and pressed onward every time. Only one comment had drawn a reaction.

Don't think you've got what it'd take to melt the Ice Queen, Rizzoli, but give me five minutes alone with her and she'd be-

Five minutes? Jane had snorted. Ha! You wouldn't even last long enough to get your dick out of your pants. Luckily I don't have that problem, she'd then retorted, holding up her left hand and wiggling her fingers.

The ooooooooh's that sounded from the surrounding officers brought a smirk to Jane's face as she walked away.

Maura Isles heard the distasteful remarks throughout the police department. They were nothing new. While her head overruled her heart time and time again, a tiny part inside her - the part that could never forget the childhood teasing she'd endured - couldn't help but be bothered.

Still, she continued on, business as usual. She was a busy woman, an important woman she could admit, and as such, there wasn't time to respond to any of them and they certainly weren't worth the effort regardless.

Think she's as cold in the sheets?

Damn, her ass looks good in that skirt, but she's just too weird for me, man.

Nobody dared make a comment to her directly. She wasn't sure if that was better or worse.

Once on the way to the bullpen for Homicide, as she passed the door of one of the break rooms on the same floor, she overheard a surprising comment, one she couldn't seem to forget.

That bitch Rizzoli nearly ripped my head off this morning when I called the new M.E. Queen of the Dead. Either she's got it bad or she's already hittin' that.

Maura's immediate thought was finally as relief flooded through her. An alliance. Of sorts.

Detective Rizzoli,

I send you my sincerest gratitude for defending my honor so vehemently. It is very kind of you to do so.

Sincerely,

Dr. Maura Isles

Flowers weren't Jane's thing, and most certainly not pink roses, but the gesture nevertheless brought a smile to the detective's face. Closing the small notecard, she slipped it back into its envelope and returned it to the plastic holder embedded among the roses.

She got halfway to the bullpen door before she thought better of it and turned back immediately toward her desk to grab the envelope and slip it inside her trouser pocket.

"Rizzoli!" barked Korsak, approaching from the other side of the room.

"Yes?" Jane froze and turned to face him.

"Where ya goin'? We've got a suspect to interrogate in room five."

"Give me ten and I'll meet you there. Got a quick errand to run."

The older man glanced at the bouquet of pink roses on Jane's desk and back to her, squinting slightly, but didn't press further. "Fifteen max, or I'm starting without you."

A quiet rapt of knuckles on the half-open door of Maura's office immediately broke her concentration and she looked up, prepared to rebuff the intruder. Upon seeing who it was, instead a smile spread across her face. "Detective Rizzoli."

The detective cleared her throat and brushed the back of her left hand across her forehead nervously, averting the other woman's gaze for just a moment. "Hi. Um. I got your flowers. Thanks. You didn't really have to send them, you know. You could've just sent an email or told me in person or something."

Maura's smile faded. "I apologize to have bothered you then. I simply wanted to thank you. I've heard some...conversations that mentioned your defense of me. I've always been taught that it was customary to show appreciation for someone's kind words and actions by-"

"Oh god, I'm sorry. I didn't mean…" Jane winced. "Thank you. Really." She smiled to show her sincerity. "I just meant that you didn't have to go through so much trouble to thank me. I would have been okay with an email, if you'd decided to thank me that way. Or you didn't have to thank me at all."

"You've been going out of your way to try and prevent others from making distasteful comments about me. Sending flowers was the least I could do." A pleasant feeling grew anew in the medical examiner's chest. She stood and stepped around her desk. "Would you like to sit down, Detective? Could I get you some tea? Or coffee perhaps?"

With a grimace Jane replied, "I can't stay actually. I have an interrogation in-" She glanced down at the watch on her right hand and gestured over left shoulder with her thumb. "-less than two minutes, so I gotta run...literally. I just wanted to pop by and tell you thank you." She took a small step backwards.

"You're quite welcome, Detective."

As Jane reached the door, with her left hand on the door frame, Maura saw her hesitate just briefly. She smiled.

"Also, you can call me Jane. If you want. And if it matters, coffee is the most important part of my diet."

Those words spoken, the detective finally walked away, leaving Maura alone with a fluttering sensation in her chest.

Interactions with Jane became more frequent, despite no increase in homicide cases.

Their conversations, whether over a brief coffee break or lunch at a nearby cafe, grew increasingly personal.

Little by little, Maura found herself opening up to the vivacious detective, sharing small details about herself that she shared with very few.

She hated being called Poindexter as a young girl.

A designer dress and matching heels in a boutique window were one of her biggest weaknesses.

Her parents would not be visiting Boston for the Christmas holiday, nor would she have a chance to join them at a ski lodge in Vermont.

Before, she would never have mentioned such details to someone she'd only known a few months, but Jane's sincerity and attention were breaking down the walls she'd constructed higher and higher with every passing year.

It'd been nearly two months since Maura had sent Jane the roses.

"So you're going to spend Christmas alone? Your parents really aren't coming to visit you?" Jane asked the morning of Christmas Eve. Her brow furrowed.

"No, but it's okay. I don't mind." The medical examiner shrugged it off, taking a brief sip of the hot mint tea Jane had brought that morning, cup nestled warmly between her hands. "My parents have never celebrated holidays extensively. As a child, we almost always went skiing somewhere in New England and I can remember very few Christmases we actually spent at home with decorations and a tree."

"But…"

Just then Maura's cellphone rang.

The tone was not one Jane had ever heard anytime they'd been together when her phone had rang.

Maura couldn't help but sigh, her eyes closing as her shoulders slumped just slightly. Quickly she retrieved her phone from her desk, instinctively grabbing a pen and paper. "Maura Isles." Though her focus became the phone conversation and scribbling notes as necessary, she could feel dark eyes watching her intently, causing chills to run down her spine.

After the conversation ended, Jane looked at Maura curiously.

"That was the governor. They need me to review an autopsy report and confirm or deny the findings, which means sending the body here just in case. It'll be here late this evening and I'll have to start first thing in the morning." Trying to repress a sigh and control her tone, she said, mostly to herself, "Even if I had plans for Christmas, I'd have to cancel them anyway now."

"I'm sorry," Jane said quietly.

Drawing in a deep breath, Maura then smiled as she met the detective's gaze. "It's fine. It comes with the job. I just hope I don't have to bring in someone for assistance and disrupt their own Christmas celebrations if I find anything contradictory."

Jane's phone buzzed on her hip and she shifted slightly to pull it from the case. Glancing at the text, she then looked to the M.E. "Gotta run. The guys need me upstairs, but we'll talk later, yeah?"

Nodding, Maura smiled, but she knew the sadness still showed on her face and she knew the ever-observant detective could see it.

Just as she was about to put on a gown to start with her own autopsy of the body, Maura's phone pinged from its spot by the laptop on a nearby table. Curious at who would message her on Christmas, she finished tying the gown at her back and reached for the electronic device.

Are you still at work?

Yes, unfortunately. I found cause for dispute in the report and now have to do an autopsy, she replied.

Have you started it yet?

The medical examiner sighed to herself. No, I'm about to pull the body now.

Can it wait for a bit?

Define a bit.

An hour?

The thought of being delayed was irksome, but she also knew Jane well enough to know that she wouldn't interrupt if it weren't important.

I suppose. Why?

"Because you have to celebrate Christmas, even if it's only for an hour," Jane said as she entered the autopsy room.

The medical examiner's head jerked up sharply. "I'm sorry?" Her brow knitted in confusion.

Jane held up two small insulated, reusable grocery bags and grinned. "I brought you some Rizzoli Christmas cheer."

Heart leaping into her throat, Maura swallowed hard. "But I thought you were spending the day with your family?"

"I spent the morning with them." The detective shrugged. "We had breakfast and I told my ma I needed two meals to go for lunch. She wasn't happy about it at all, but then I told her why and then she couldn't get these ready and me out the door fast enough."

"Jane." The gallant gesture brought tears to Maura's eyes.

"Work or not, family or not, nobody should have to be alone on Christmas, Maura."

Okay, that was really fluffeh.