Happy Halloween, humies.

here is a halloween fluff piece to celebrate the onset of diabetes!

Treats (read on fanfic)

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The little girl who holds her bag up for a candy bar catches Jane's attention for two reasons. The first is that she is not dressed as Wonder Woman (the most popular costume of the year), or even any other recognizable character. She is dressed in all orange, with what look like hand drawn badges on the chest. Her candy bucket is an upside down helmet of sorts, though Jane can tell it's clearly not meant to be for a motorcycle.

"Treats and tricks!" the girl says brightly, holding up her helmet. "I am allergic to peanuts, Thank you!"

Jane laughs, setting the bowl of Reese's cups and Snickers aside, and grabbing the smaller bowl of Starbursts and Skittles.

"Thanks for telling me," she says holding the bowl out for the little girl to choose. "What are you dressed up as this year?"

The girl throws her a look, trying to figure out if she is joking. "I'm Mae Jemison," she says incredulously. "Don't you know who she is?"

"Yeah," Jane says defensively, simultaneously wracking her brain for the answer. "She's an...Astronaut."

The child only looks slightly mollified. "She was the first African-American astronaut in space," she says excitedly. "And she was also a scientist, and a doctor, like my mother."

And that is when the second thing occurs to Jane. She looks up, out to the sidewalk outside the house, expecting to see this little girl's mother, and realizes with a start that she is travelling alone.

"Where's your mom?" Jane asks casually.

"Stuck in the morgue." the girl says this just as casually, although it is anything but a casual sentence.

"You're trick or treating alone?" Jane presses.

The girl bites her lip, looking unsure for the first time. "I worked really hard on my costume," she says finally. "So it's not fair that I don't get to go just because there was a murder."

This throws Jane even more, and she is about to apologize, when she understands.

"Your mom works in a morgue? She's a Medical Examiner?"

"Yes," the girl nods. "We moved just a month ago, and she promised we could trick and treat. But then she got stuck with a dumb 'ol body."

"What's your name, hon?" Jane asks, leaning back away from the door to grab her jacket and her badge.

"Mae," the girl says. "Like my costume."

Jane nudges Jo Friday away from the door, and steps out onto the porch, shutting it behind her. "Mae," she says. "I'm Jane." She squats down so that she can show Mae her badge. "I'm a police officer."

"No you're not," Mae says with a little frown. "You're a detective. That's a detective's badge." She studies Jane with a critical hazel eye. "Didn't you know that?" she asks.

Jane chuckles. "Yes," she says, straightening. "I did know that. It just sometimes makes kids feel better if I say police officer."

Mae nods. "Oh," she says. "Okay."

"Can I come trick or treating with you?" Jane asks, still smiling.

Mae's frown deepens a little. "Why?"

"Well," Jane hesitates, and then decides that honesty would probably work best with this kid. "You're young, and small. And it's going to get dark fast. And I don't like the idea of you walking alone."

"I am seven," Mae responds indignantly. "That is the second grade. I could be in the fourth, but Mommy says that social in-tractions aren't something I'm allowed to skip."

This makes Jane want to laugh again, but she restrains herself. "She's right," is all she says. "So will you let me come with you?"

Mae considers. "Can I still go up to the houses by myself?" she asks.

"Yes," Jane says. "You're seven, after all."

…

The joke at the precinct is that Jane is married to her job, and the truth that is conveyed underneath that joke is that she has no time for frivolity that might interfere with that work.

The fear that hits Jane, when she hears the joke, is that no one will ever understand her dedication to her job, or truly see her for what she is.

She and Mae work their way through the neighborhood, and Jane waits at the end of the walkways as Mae runs up to the door and holds up her space helmet for her candy.

Jane has corrected her opening request, and she smiles every time she hears Mae greet a new person.

"Trick or treat. I am allergic to peanuts! Thank you!"

After the fifth house, she runs back down the sidewalk to where Jane is standing, face shining. "She knew who I was, Jane!" she says excitedly. "She said I had the best costume she'd seen all night!"

Jane looks up in time to catch the eye of the woman in the doorway, smiling warmly at them. She lifts her hand in thanks, and the woman waves back before shutting the door.

"That's great, Mae," Jane says. "See? I told you that anyone worth a dime would know your costume."

And Mae smiles, and slips her hand into Jane's, tugging her gently toward the next house.

They meet a group of kids coming down the walk from the next house, a handful of Captain Americas and Wonder Womans are being trailed by an uninterested father in a minivan.

Jane knows from the blue sheen to his face, that he is most likely watching Game 3 of the world series on his phone.

She rolls her eyes.

"Hey look!" one of the Captain America calls. "It's Mae-Mae the bay bay!"

Mae stops in her tracks, the excitement and happiness falling from her expression like a stone.

The others turn, and with the synchronicity that only elementary age children can achieve, they begin to make the crying noises of a baby.

Some of the Wonder Womans pretend to wipe their eyes.

Mae steps closer to Jane automatically, and when she looks down, Jane sees that her lower lip is trembling.

The tallest Captain America sneers at them from behind his mask.

"Mae!" he calls, drawing out her name. "Where's your binky? Where's your teddy bear, baby maybe?"

The other kids laugh, playing up the hilarity.

Jane glances behind them, at the minivan, to see if Baseball Dad is seeing any of this. Of course not, he's still glued to his smart phone. She could abduct them all, and he'd be none the wiser.

Jane snorts. "That's the best you can do?" she asks the boy. "Whose kid is under that mask?"

The boy seems startled, but he pulls his hood off without protest, still too young to know that disobeying an adult is a possibility.

Jane laughs when she sees who it is. "Matthew Crowe, I should have known. Of course you'd pick the most boring costume. Your dad came to work as Iron Man. I bet it took him a month to come up with the idea."

Out of the corner of her eye, Jane sees Mae look up at her, wide eyed.

"D-Detective Rizzoli?" Matthew asks. "What are you doing trick or treating?"

Jane puts her arm around Mae. "I'm taking my friend Mae around. She told me all about her costume, and I thought it was so cool, I couldn't wait to hang out with her."

"Mae's costume? Cool?" This is one of the Wonder Womans. The only one who also has a bright yellow 'lasso of truth' around her waist.

"Yeah," Jane says with an air of nonchalance. "Cool, and unique. I mean, there's like, a thousand superheroes running around, but I'm yet to see another Mae Jemison."

Jane pretends to look like she's made a mistake. "I mean...not that you guys are boring. You all planned to come as the same thing, right?"

They didn't, and she knows it. They all eye each other grumpily.

"Anyway," Jane says. "We'd better get going. If we're gonna sort all this candy and get through a halloween movie, we'd better keep moving."

Jane takes Mae's hand and leads her around the group of kids, then she gives her a little push toward the walk. "Go on, Mae," she says. "You're old enough to go up there alone."

She makes sure her voice carries to the throng of Mae's classmates, still watching them.

"Oh man!" she hears a Wonder Woman say, clearly wishing she was cool enough to trick or treat alone.

"See you at school tomorrow, Mae!" A Captain America calls.

Mae turns to look at the boy from the front porch where she has just rung the doorbell. She is surprised, Jane can tell, but she also looks stony, and supremely cool, especially when she turns back to the door without a word.

"That's it, superstar," Jane says under her breath.

Mae is still wide eyed and breathless when she gets back to Jane. They link hands and walk toward the next house.

"You know," Jane says thoughtfully. "I'm pretty sure that Mae Jemison isn't even half as cool as you are."

The little girl tries, and fails to hide her delight at this compliment.

…

…

They are in the expansive living room of Mae Isles' house, two thirds of the way through Hocus Pocus, when doctor Maura Isles bursts into the room, and tries to stab Jane with a kitchen knife.

It is only because Mae sees her and cries out "Mommy!" a fraction of a second before the woman lunges, that Jane has time to sidestep the attack.

"Mae! Run! Get Away!" the woman says frantically, swinging the serrated blade wildly at Jane again. "YOU GET AWAY FROM MY DAUGHTER!"

"Woah!" Jane says, backing up quickly enough that she almost trips over an ottoman. "Woah, doctor. I'm not a kidnapper."

"Kidnapper. Pedophile. Burglar!" The doctor yells. "I don't care what you want to call yourself. Stay away from my child, and get the hell out of my house!"

"Mommy!" Mae cries, her voice shrill in it's fear. "Don't hurt Detective Jane! She took me trick or treating!"

Maura freezes. She stares at Jane, not lowering the knife. "W-what?"

Mae chances a step forward. "I-I went out trick or treating," she says quietly.

Maura's eyes shift to her daughter for the first time. The knife wavers. "You went out?" she asks, sounding astounded.

Mae nods slowly.

The knife falls down to the doctor's side, and Jane lets out a breath of relief.

"Mae Elise Isles!" Maura turns fully to face her daughter. "Where is your babysitter?"

Mae bites her lip. "I...called her to cancel yesterday. And then...I told you she was just running late today."

Jane can't help the noise she makes, somewhere between surprise and admiration.

Maura turns back to her. "And you?" she asks. "You...what, picked her up on the street and brought her home?"

Jane can understand why Mae has trouble looking her mother in the eye when she's angry. She feels her palms start to sweat. "She trick or treated at my house," Jane says. "I saw that she was alone and offered to take her around."

The knife comes up again, just a little. "Out of the goodness of your heart?"

Jane puts her hands up. "I'm a cop," she says. "I noticed she was alone."

"You're a detective, Jane," Mae pipes up from behind her, sounding annoyed that she has to keep reminding her.

Maura raises her eyebrows. "You're a detective?"

Jane does not think she is mistaken about the skepticism she hears in Maura's tone.

"Yeah," she says. "My badge is in my coat pocket, out in the hall. I showed it to Mae before she let me go trick or treating with her."

Maura raises the knife to full height, pointing it at Jane's face. "You don't move," she orders.

Jane shakes her head. "Like I would dream of it."

Maura and Mae disappear, and Jane can hear them in the hallway, talking quietly.

Jane chances shifting her weight, and putting her fingers in her pockets. Unfortunately, this is the moment that Maura chooses to return.

"I told you not to move," she says, but she no longer has the knife, and her face is no longer full of wild anger and fear.

Jane smiles tentatively. "You put down the knife," she says. "That's a good sign."

"I owe you an apology," she says quietly. "And some gratitude, I suppose."

Jane shrugs. "It wasn't a problem. You've got a pretty amazing kid. I mean...she looked up the best neighborhood for candy, and then took a bus there."

Maura smiles at her for the first time. Jane feels her stomach flip over. "Please don't remind me!" she says. "She's so bright, I sometimes forget that...Well...I just mean...she said you were a wonderful chaperone."

"She made it easy," Jane says with a laugh. "Her costume was the best. She definitely taught me a thing or two."

Maura laughs, and wouldn't you know it, her laugh is ten times more beautiful than her smile.

Jane rubs her hands together. "I should get out of your hair." she starts toward the door and then turns, reaching into her back pocket for her wallet. "Oh. I bought Hocus Pocus on demand. Let me give you a couple-"

"God, no!" Maura says, stepping forward to stop her from pulling her wallet open. "No, it's quite alright. Thank you for, well, for taking care of my daughter." But this seems to make her sad, and if there's anything worse than seeing this woman angry, Jane decides it is seeing her sad.

"Uhm, Dr. Isles?"

"Maura," the doctor answers absently. "Call me Maura, please."

"Okay, uh, Maura? Are you okay?"

Maura looks at her and seems to shake herself. "Yes, I just," she hesitates.

"It's none of my business," Jane says, moving again toward the hall. "I'll just-"

"My mother never took me trick or treating," Maura says, and Jane turns to look at her.

"What?"

"My mother was always so busy, and she never took me to birthday parties, or trick or treating, or anything like that. I...well, when Mae asked me, I…" she looks up at Jane, at a loss. "I didn't know how to say yes."

Jane doesn't know how to answer this, and after a moment Maura looks embarrassed.

"I'm sorry," she says. "You don't need to know all of that."

"No!" Jane speaks to quickly and too loud. "No," she tries again. "It's okay. I know it can be really hard to buck tradition."

Maura looks up at her, and really studies her for the first time. Jane tries not to fidget under the scrutiny.

"Mommy!" Mae arrives back in the living room. She has shed her costume and is now wearing a pair of footie pajamas that make Jane want to cry because of how cute they are.

"Hello, darling," Maura says, reaching for her. "I was just saying goodbye to Jane."

Mae's face falls. "But we haven't finished the movie yet!" she says. "And we haven't even begun to sort the candy!"

Maura squeezes Mae's shoulder gently. "We can do that together, sweetheart," she says. "I'm sure Jane has places she needs to be."

"No she doesn't!" Mae says, turning to Jane for confirmation. "Right Jane? You were just gonna be at home with Jo Friday, watching TV and probably falling asleep on the couch."

Jane blushes when Maura looks at her, one eyebrow raised.

"To be fair, that is only half as lame as it sounds."

Maura chuckles. "Well," she says slowly. "You're welcome to stay for the remainder of the movie. And, although 'candy sorting' sounds highly interesting, I'm afraid I don't know the exact science."

Declining doesn't cross Jane's mind.