Disclaimer: All recognizable Rizzoli & Isles characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners including, but not limited to TNT. The original characters and plot are the property of the author of this fan fiction story. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any previously copyrighted material. No financial gain is associated with the publishing of this story. No copyright infringement is intended.

Charity

Jane stood back as she watched the mayor and his wife approach Maura. The dress the doctor was wearing popped against the deep red carpet rolled out for the night's gala.

"Detective Rizzoli!" a voice called out from the rope line.

"Gretchen," Jane nodded hello to the familiar face.

"Is the BPD involved in tonight's gala?" the reporter asked.

"No, I'm here with Dr. Isles," she shook her head.

"The doctor seems at home on a red carpet. Perhaps she missed her true calling."

Jane smiled at the thought. She had often thought Maura had movie star good looks. However, the thought of her friend doing anything other than what she was seemed wrong.

"I can't imagine her being anything other than the Chief Medical Examiner for the State of Massachusetts."

"Oh?" Gretchen seemed intrigued by the comment for reasons that weren't immediately obvious to Jane. "And the Isles Foundation?"

What the reporter was getting at caused the detective to bristle.

"Dr. Isles believes firmly in the mission of the foundation and is its greatest asset," Jane spoke passionately. "However, the way she is able to speak for the dead, bring closure to grieving families and assist in the solving of horrendous crimes is unparalleled. Not only would it be a huge loss to have her attention given completely to the foundation, I can't fathom her ever being happy doing anything but what she does every day in this city's morgue. We are a better police department because of her."

There was pride in her voice rather than defensiveness.

"You would know more than anyone," Gretchen responded as she jotted down a couple of notes on a small pad. "Her ears must have been burning."

The reporter nodded behind Detective Rizzoli to an approaching Maura.

"Hello, Gretchen," Maura smiled warmly as she gently touched Jane's elbow on her way past.

The gratuitous touch was unexpected, but not unwelcome. The cop watched as the doctor moved past her and approached a photographer to inquire about his taking a few extra photographs of the mayor and the board members of the Isles Foundation. Jane watched as Maura returned to the red carpet with the photographer in tow.

...

"Maura?" Jane was surprised to find the woman, two champagne flutes in her hands, standing in the hallway as she exited the bathroom. "I thought you were with the mayor."

"Once photos were taken he went ahead to the ballroom," she said, handing a drink to Jane.

Taking a drink from her glass, Jane found Maura's eyes boring into her.

"Do I have something on my face?" she asked self-consciously.

"I heard what you said to Gretchen," Maura smiled softly.

"That isn't going to cause problems for you if she prints it, is it?" Jane sighed in frustration with her self.

"Of course not," she placed a hand on Jane's. "It was actually very sweet."

"Oh," Jane blushed.

"Thank you, Jane. For what you said and for being my date tonight."

"There's nowhere else I'd rather be."

"I know that isn't true, but I'll let it slide this time. We should go into the ballroom now,"

Maura ran her hand from Jane's wrist down to her elbow where she then hooked their arms. Jane still felt the heat of that simple touch even when they took their seats and were no longer in contact.

...

Throughout the dinner and program in the vast ballroom, it felt as if it were only the two of them.

Jane found her gaze drawn to the doctor's features as the man at the dais introduced various officials including Maura. As the doctor stood to be recognized, Jane felt that swelling of pride return that she had felt as she spoke with the reporter earlier.

Maura's eyes caught Jane's and both smiled bashfully at a feeling they couldn't define.

Leaning into her friend, Dr. Isles sought out Jane's ear to whisper: "Let's get out of here early."

Jane was surprised.

"Don't you have more hobnobbing to do?" she asked.

"I think I've done an appropriate amount."

They exchanged a smile as they stood from their table and made for the nearest exit.

...

Jane had settled on the couch, her shoes kicked off and a bottle of water in her hand. Maura has insisted Jane drink water before indulging further in alcohol.

"Does the mayor's wife ever say anything?" Jane asked over the back of the couch.

Coming from the kitchen, Maura settled next to her friend and opened her own bottle of water.

"She's rather reserved."

"That's one way to put it," Jane replied.

"She has devoted her time to the issue of hunger, particularly kids' hunger and food deserts. In the right setting she can be quite passionate and personable," Maura said as she removed the bobby pins one by one from her hair, releasing it to fall loosely against her shoulders.

Jane couldn't help but watch the tawny waves fall to bare shoulders. The thin straps of Maura's dress that had been grabbing Jane's attention all night were now hidden.

"Do your parents ever attend this particular gala?" Jane took Maura's offered foot and began massaging it.

"No, they've really stepped back from the foundation. Perhaps to allow me independence and discretion in operating it or simply because they prefer attending one large foundation event per year, I'm not sure."

"Do you mind going to all of them?" Jane had never considered that Maura might not enjoy them.

"Not now that I have you to accompany me," Maura smiled, a hint of flirtation entering her voice.

"How could I not want to have the most beautiful woman in the place on my arm?" Jane said, quickly hiding behind a lengthy drink of water.

"Before I met you I could either take a man I might be seeing, a stranger, a colleague or I could always go alone. Having you has made it all decidedly less complicated."

"I can't imagine anyone passing up the opportunity," Jane took Maura's other foot and began massaging. "Do you think..."

Jane stopped herself from continuing her thought, something obviously suspicious to the doctor.

"Yes?" Maura's voice was encouraging.

"How do you think people who also go to these things view us?" the cop began fidgeting.

"Us?" Maura hadn't followed. "Oh! You mean how they view our relationship?"

"Yeah, something Gretchen said made me wonder. She said something about my knowing you better than anyone."

While the massage has continued, Jane's hands had noticeably slowed and her eyes had started avoiding Maura's.

"You do know me better than anyone," the M.E. spoke matter-of-factly.

"You know what I mean."

"I do. Though I don't know the answer to your question. I have no idea what they must be thinking and I frankly don't care," Maura stood somewhat abruptly and went into the kitchen where she had opened a bottle of wine and left it to breathe on the counter.

Having poured one glass of wine, Maura stood there contemplating whether to also pour Jane a glass when the lanky woman came into the kitchen, standing very closely to the doctor.

"I didn't mean to upset you," Jane placed a hand on Maura's elbow. It was gentle and quite like the touch they had shared at the gala when Maura sought out the photographer.

"You didn't. Would you like a glass?" she still hadn't looked at Jane.

"Maur..."

"You clearly wanted to be my date," she said, placing both hands flat on the countertop.

"I did."

"You said those things to Gretchen," her breath hitched when Jane's hand came up to the base of her neck, running her fingers downward through loose hair.

"I meant it," Jane took a half step closer, her hip grazing Maura's.

"Jane..." Maura's tone was laced with frustration.

"You are the best date I've ever had," came the whisper with trepidation.

A confident hand wrapped around Jane's wrist, stilling the path it was traveling in her hair. She looked at Jane, willing those dark brown eyes to find her own.

Their eyes met.

It was Jane who leaned in and began the cautious kiss. Her lips pressed softly against Maura's, waiting until she felt the other woman lean further into it before she kissed the upper and then lower lip. It was her slight tug of her best friend's bottom lip that instigated a much deeper kiss.

Maura's tongue darted out against Jane's lips, a silent request that was met with precisely what was desired—a subtle parting that cleared the way for her tongue to slip past.

The simple circling of tongues caused Jane to moan. It was that noise that spurred Maura further, her free hand reaching out to a slender hip, pulling the woman closer to her.

They were desperate for breath.

"Oh, god," Jane gasped.

"What else did you expect when you told me I was the best date you had ever had?" Maura smirked.

They forgot the wine and made their way back to the couch. Maura was on her knees, Jane sitting with her legs turned toward Maura. The kissing resumed. Dresses bunched around thighs, tangled around legs and feet as they attempted to get closer.

"I hate to think what would have happened if I'd told the reporter you were a mediocre M.E.," Jane smirked as she impatiently unzipped Maura's dress.

"I hate to think you would even consider calling me mediocre."

Maura pulled her dress over her head, revealing a lacy number beneath complete with transparent slip, lace bra, and something that barely passed as a thong. Jane's breathing had stopped, her eyes wide and mouth slightly open.

"Not," she cleared her throat, "not mediocre."

Maura kissed Jane with nothing short of fire. It took no time at all for scarred hands to give the slip the same treatment as the dress and seek out lace-covered breasts, eliciting the most delicious sound from their owner. Her thumbs toyed with the hardened peaks beneath whilst groaning simultaneously.

"This is why dresses are terrible. I've got to get out of this thing!" she pulled her legs back from Maura and reached for the bottom of her dress and wiggled it over her hips, shoulders and head.

"Easy to get out of," Maura smirked.
There was the sound of a trash bin closing outside and footsteps causing Jane's forehead to furrow in worry.

"Is Ma supposed to be home early?" she reached for her recently discarded dress.

"Stop, it's okay."

Maura put a hand in Jane's and assured her with a confidence the cop couldn't seem to accept.

"She has a key, you know," Jane worried. "It doesn't matter if the door is locked."

"I don't know if you're worried that your mother is going to walk in on you without your clothes on or if you're worried she will see you with me, but I can tell you she isn't coming in the house tonight."

"Did you plan this?" Jane was now suspicious.

"Of course not!" Maura rose up, now sitting in her heels. "How could I know? I'd have had to know what you would say to the press, how you would look at me and that you would say I was the best date you'd ever had."

Jane leaned up onto her elbows, releasing the dress to the floor for now.

"Then how are you so certain she won't come in?" she continued.

Rolling her eyes, Maura didn't look at Jane for a moment and once she did she looked ashamed.

"I turn off the light in the courtyard when I would like privacy."

"You what?! Like a sock on the doorknob? My mother knows when you're having sex?"

Jane's body language was saying that whatever they were doing was over.

"No, of course not! Yes, I do sometimes use the signal when I—"

"You do not need to go further."

"But not only when I have company with whom I plan to be intimate, also when I have a lot of reading to do or when I'd like to go to bed early,"

While Maura wasn't actively pulling Jane back in, she had placed a hand on a strong, lithe thigh and was running it upward.

"You amaze me, Maura Isles," Jane cracked a smile, permeating the worry that had been lining her face.

Jane turned, placed a hand on the back of Maura's neck and as it tightened she brought the woman closer.

"And why is that?" she teasingly smiled, her lips nearly on Jane's.

"You don't give a fuck who knows about your sex life."

Jane pressed her lips to Maura's; her hands reaching the curve of hips where she gently suggested come closer. The M.E. was now straddling the woman beneath, her almost non-existent thong making her growing arousal apparent.

"I would admonish you for your language, but it is such a turn on," she breathed against eager lips.

Jane continued the kiss before Maura's words fully processed in her mind. Allowing the space necessary to breathe her response she spoke, "is that why you get after me for cursing?"

"Would you want to be turned on whenever your best friend—your supposedly strictly heterosexual best friend—uses profanity?"

The grip Jane had on Maura's hips strengthened and she urged them forward to where pelvises and cores met.

"I suspect it would be as painful for you as when you wear those dresses that paint your curves and leave nothing to the imagination," Jane's words came in a staccato fashion between kisses and moans. "But I never asked you to stop wearing them...I must be a glutton for punishment."

When the doctor's hands made their way from the tendrils of hair at the nape of Jane's neck to thin shoulders, the detective's breath quickened and her focus on the kiss wavered. It was obvious where those hands were headed and when they reached their destination, squeezing breasts before tormenting nipples as much as possible through the bra, Jane's moan vibrated through her body.

"Maur?" she gasped once again as the subtle pinching of nipples through the fabric began. "Please take it off."

"Yours or mine?" Maura's tease came out much more breathlessly than intended. Her breathing couldn't catch up with her desire.

Jane grunted.

Exacting fingers deftly undid the clasp and slid the straps down trembling arms.

"Jane?" she murmured. "Take a breath."

Doing as told, on the exhale Jane was rewarded by that same friction on her nipples, alternating with kneading.

"God, Maur..."

"Mmm..." the kiss was now sloppy, attention divided.

Maura paused, releasing Jane's breasts despite her protestations. She reached behind her back, smoothly freeing and removing her own strapless bra.

"Fuck," Jane's eyes were wide, her mouth slightly open as she took in the sight.

Wasting no time, the crown of raven hair was the view before Maura, her breasts being lavished with kisses and gentle sucking. Her hips bucked, a long, low sound escaping her. She wasn't particularly surprised by Jane diving in the way she was. Regardless, she was wildly pleased.

"Jane, I—" her words were halted by action. "Shit."

One hand had slipped between them, flicking the now damp strip of lace aside. A single path between lips and Maura was nearly undone.

"I find you swearing a turn on, too," Jane spoke against the collarbone she was now kissing mercilessly. "And you are quite turned on."

When thumb connected with clit, Maura whimpered. Hips pressed her against Jane's hand.

"Kiss me," she pleaded.

The response was immediate.

As Jane's tongue darted in and out of the doctor's wanting mouth, she continued to tease what was to come.

"God," Maura's breath against Jane's chin was hot. She was rapidly losing grip. How long could she continue without reaching ecstasy by simple touch, teasing and tempting of her swollen clit?

"Would you ever quit being the M.E. to run your parents' foundation?" Jane somehow was able to focus on formulating thoughts, something Maura apparently was not as her mind couldn't reach a state of clarity that would allow her to understand what was being asked.

"What?" her hips were now rocking against Jane's hand, her lips assaulting the long, gorgeous neck she had fantasized about.

"Do you want to keep being a pathologist?" Jane's hand began to explore.

"I...God...I am happy where I am," she panted.

"That's what the reporter asked me—If you might leave the BPD, er, medical examiner's office."

Fingers circled Maura's entrance.

"You're too damn good to leave."

And with that statement Jane allowed herself to slip inside the welcoming depths of a woman she had pined after, fantasized over and loved for longer than she could remember.

"Jesus!" the doctor wailed.

Jane's fingers were skilled, tender when necessary, forceful when Maura begged for them. It wasn't long before she was panting with the movement of her hips, signaling her oncoming orgasm. She sought out Jane's mouth, losing herself in their kiss.

Her tongue stopped moving. Her hips were in a whirlwind of motion. Once, twice and she was gone.

The detective slowed her pace, giving Maura what she needed as her body uncoiled and eventually became still.

Maura's hand reached for the back of the couch for support, lowering herself completely on to Jane's bare chest. Her breathing slowed. She attempted to speak, but could neither find the words nor the air to formulate sound.

After a few moments, she sat up, looking down into the eyes of a detective who appeared to be in awe.

"You give new meaning to 'a hot date'," Jane spoke.

This made the doctor laugh. She tipped her head back as she did so, her hair swaying.

"I didn't do this on my own," she spoke, her hand resting on the cop's belly.

Jane grinned. She was as amazed as she was fulfilled.

"Pick up your dress."

Maura was already standing and gathering her things as she made the demand.

"Excuse me?" flat on her back on the couch, Jane watched as a very naked Maura made her way to the stairs.

"I can't guarantee your mother won't come in for coffee in the morning."

Jane did exactly as Maura said, putting on her bra and panties as she went. Her dress was wrinkled and she didn't care. She threw it over her shoulder and followed.

When she walked into the bedroom, her breath was taken. There stood Maura, nude. With her back to Jane, she was setting the alarm on her phone and plugging it in as she did every night. She turned to find her open-mouthed and staring friend.

"You've seen me naked before," she teased.

"Not when you were…" Jane took a breath, looked Maura up and down. "…glistening."

"Not after a run?" she moved toward the bed, pulling back the covers.

"It's hard to fully appreciate a sweaty body when it is a body you aren't supposed to be looking at," Jane sat at the foot of the bed.

"Jane."

Maura moved toward Jane. Sitting down next to her, she put a hand on hers and looked her in the eyes.

"I knew you were looking. I never told you to stop."

Jane leaned in and planted a kiss on full, pink lips.

"Why did you put these back on?" Maura pulled on one of the detective's bra straps.

"It felt wrong to be running up the stairs in your house completely naked."

"Would you like to take them off? Or pajamas?"

"It depends," Jane smirked.

"Is that so?" with her fingers traveling down the bra strap to the peak making itself known through the cup, Maura pressed a kiss to Jane's cheek.

"No pajamas," Jane breathed heavily.

"Good. Come on."

The woman was nothing if she wasn't convincing. Jane went around to the other side of the bed, pulling the covers down. She released her bra, dropping it down her arms and stepped out of her underwear. It was then that she noticed Maura's eyes on her.

"This feels so dreamlike," she said as she crawled into the bed next to Maura.

"It does, doesn't it?" she spoke against Jane's lips before pushing forward.

The kiss was frisky yet gentle.

"When is your next charity event?" Jane hummed against Maura's lips.

"I don't have one on the calendar that I can think of, why?"

Pulling Maura's hip toward her, she smirked.

"You might need a date."

"In that case, I better get a few Isles Foundation events scheduled soon!" Maura moved into Jane, their pelvises flush, mound pressed to mound.

"You're adorable, Maur," Jane's smile morphed into a deep and soon torrid kiss.

It didn't take long before a long, slender leg hooked over the doctor's hip and begin moving with the graceful fingers at her core.

Dreamlike was an understatement.

…

Jane was fighting with the coffeemaker when she heard the key in the lock. In walked her mother, a box of donuts in hand.

"Oh, good morning, Janie," she said as she put the donuts on the island and gave her daughter a kiss on her cheek.

"I didn't realize you'd come home with Maura last night."

Jane tensed as she ruminated on what her mother must be wondering.

"Here, let me do that for you," Angela nudged Jane's shoulder and took over the coffee operation. "You're even less patient in the morning."

"Is anyone patient in the morning?" she replied.

"Maura usually is. Speaking of which, where is she?" Jane had no idea how to answer her mother's question without giving away the fact that she'd slept in Maura's bed. With Maura. Naked.

"I'm sure she'll be down soon," she shrugged.

Giving her attention to the donuts, Jane held back the smile that came with the thought of the naked doctor. What a sight!

"Jane?" her mother's voice snapped her back into the moment. "You never take more than a second to rip open the box and grab a cruller."

"Just thinking."

Angela nodded with a slight smile of her own.

"Good morning," Maura walked into the kitchen, wrapped in her silk robe, hair pulled back. Jane did everything she could to keep from admiring the legs that weren't covered.

"I was just asking where you were," Angela put a hand on Maura's shoulder as she walked by, handing her a cup of coffee as she did.

"Why does Maura get the first cup? I was here first," Jane grumbled.

"It is Maura's house," Angela swatted at Jane as she came around the counter to the coffeemaker. She'd purposely gone around the side Maura wasn't on to avoid what she knew would be a lack of control of her hands.

"Thanks, Ma," she kissed the top of Angela's head as she was handed a mug.

"Good morning," she hummed against Maura's shoulder as she passed by—her mother's back was turned.

"How was the gala, Maura?" Angela inquired.

"It was successful by all accounts," she answered, winking at Jane as she did.

"That's fantastic."

Moving into the living room, Angela was half listening as Maura recapped the events of the evening and the people who attended. She was saying something about the mayor's wife when she stopped suddenly, her cheeks reddening as she looked at Jane's mother.

"I believe you missed this?" she was holding up the translucent slip that Maura had been wearing the night before beneath her dress.

Jane spit coffee back into her cup as she realized what was happening.

"It must have been some gala," Angela chuckled, carrying the slip to the laundry room in the hallway.

Once she was out of the room, Jane and Maura's eyes met. Jane raised a questioning eyebrow and Maura smiled smugly.

"Do you need anything from the grocery store, Maura? I need to pick up some zucchini for that soup I've been going to make," the elder Rizzoli was carrying on like nothing had happened.

"I don't believe I do," Maura shrugged at Jane. What else was she supposed to do?

"Then I'll leave you girls to breakfast. Don't forget that Vince is having a barbeque this afternoon."

And like that she was out the door.

A few seconds of silence passed before both women let out a laugh.

"That wasn't awkward or anything," Jane reached for Maura, the silk robe tempting her.

"I forgot I wore a slip last night," she kissed the detective's cheek.

"To be fair, that see-through thing hardly qualified as an item of clothing."

"Good morning, Jane," Maura nuzzled into the woman's neck, sighing at how natural and honest the moment felt.

"Hey."

"You may need to help me pick out something to wear for the barbeque," Maura hummed.

"Me? Why?" Jane's hand was dangerously close to Maura's ass.

"Because if I wear what I would normally wear, your hand on my ass will be the least of our problems."

Jane chuckled.

"We better go upstairs and pick something out then."

Maura lifted her head up, caught Jane's eye and knew that putting clothing on would not be the outcome.

"Lead the way."

-finis-