A/N: This is a first for two writers; for me, I've never written a collaborative piece before so I admit quite a bit of nervousness to doing so. For the other writer of this story-SSA-RTUNE it's her first foray into the world of Rizzoli and Isles. (Criminal Minds has been her thing)
Disclaimer - Usual shit here. Don't own, can't afford to be sued, just for fun, blah, blah, you name it! TNT, Tess G and others have that honor!
Without further ado...
Chapter one
Jane practically ran through the corridors, her jacket billowing out slightly, the gun and detectives shield showing, people scattering out of her way as if Moses were parting the red sea in front of her. Her face was serious, eyebrows knitted together and people around the precinct knew that look. Do not mess with Jane Rizzoli.
Without warning, she burst in to one of the interrogation rooms, those sitting in there looking at her in surprise.
"What did you do, you bastard."
No one could stop her as she grabbed the suspect, hauling them to their feet and slamming them against the wall hard enough for them to be winded slightly. She wasn't even aware of the shouting from the others around her she was so focused on the person she had her hands on.
"Detective Rizzoli!"
Korsak's voice finally seemed to penetrate the fog surrounding her, and Jane was firmly pushed off and away from the suspect. Korsak loomed in to her field of vision.
"I swear I will make you pay for this." Jane virtually shouted at the man, who was trying to rearrange his shirt collar.
Without another word, Jane left the interrogation room as swiftly as she had entered it and strode back to her desk leaving a trail of confused looks in her wake.
After a time, Korsak came in to the room slowly, checking to see if there were other detectives around. He then sat down on the chair alongside Jane's desk.
"Mind explaining to me what all that was about?" He asked once it became apparent Jane wasn't going to say anything to him.
"None of your business." Jane growled in reply, her eyes steadfastly looking at the file she had opened in front of her, although none of the words were sinking in.
"Didn't look like nothing."
"Just..." Jane looked up, and shook her head. "I've had enough for today, you know how I feel about all this. Leave it Vince." She then stood up, grabbing the jacket she had worn earlier, but then thrown across the back of her chair once she had come back. She shrugged it back on as she walked, ignoring the looks others were giving her as she left the precinct.
Korsak found her in The Dirty Robber, nursing a beer. He sat alongside her at the bar, without looking in her direction. Jane could tell some other uni's and detectives who were off duty, or taking some time out, were looking in their direction.
"News travels fast." Jane swept the bottle of beer around in front of her to show she was aware of the staring going on, no matter how subtle some people thought they were being about it.
"You've got that much right." Vince took a slug of his own beer.
"So, what happens next?"
"You go home."
"What? No." Jane turned around with a frown and glared at her friend and mentor.
"You go home Jane." Korsak also moved and faced Jane's look head on. "You need to take some time away. Get your shit together before you can't do this right."
Shaking her head, Jane tipped the bottle back and finished her drink and stood up. "Fine. Call me when I can come back." Her sarcasm was plain to everyone who might have heard. Throwing some money down on the bar without even looking at the amount, she walked outside, before heading anywhere other than home.
Jane stood in the shadows, just waiting. If being a cop had taught her one thing, it was there was a time for patience, and there was a time for action. Despite her natural instinct was to always be action, she knew this was one of the occasions where patience was what she needed. She pushed some hair back off her cheek, before glancing at her watch. Seeing the time, she tensed, knowing she was close to achieving her aim for today, and she shifted position slightly, giving her a better advantage.
He didn't even see her as she launched out of the alleyway, pushing him down behind a dumpster.
"What the..." He couldn't even get chance to say any more as a fist came in and connected to his face stunning him.
"You son of a bitch. I told you I would make you pay." The voice was low and raspier than usual.
The emotions in Jane were bouncing around her like she couldn't believe. She had sworn to protect and serve, not to be smacking the shit out of someone in a alleyway like a common criminal. She never would have said she would have been brought to this point in her life, her career, and yet here she was and now that she had begun this course of action, there was no way she could back down. Too much was at stake. She hated she was here, doing this, but it had to be done. She had spent many sleepless nights and long hours in the day trying to work out how else to deal with the problem, and as much as she hated to admit it, she had come to the same conclusion every single time. There was no other alternative and if justice was going to be served, some things had to be sacrificed including her own morals on the subject.
Just as she went to swing another punch, someone tackled in to her from behind, bringing her down to the ground. What the f...
"Jane Rizzoli, you are under arrest for assault."
Crowe looked at her with a smug expression, as he brought his handcuffs around and slammed them on her wrists. "Saw it all Rizzoli. You always were a loose cannon and I'm not gonna let you get out of this one."
Jane was hauled to her feet, and she simply snarled at Crowe, wanting nothing more than to be free of the handcuffs, that she knew he had tightened deliberately more than would be acceptable for a normal perp. She wanted to wipe the self-satisfied expression off his face so badly it almost hurt. Of all the cops in the area to find her, she couldn't believe her bad luck it was him! Shit this was not working out like it was supposed to, Crowe wasn't supposed to be here.
She glanced to her right, and saw the suspect from earlier in the day finally getting to his feet, his cheek showing a bruise where she had caught him.
Crowe meanwhile had stripped Jane of her firearm and shield handing them to a uniform who had appeared only seconds earlier. He then looked across at the man to his left.
"You alright? Need that looking at?"
"I'm fine. What I need is for that psycho bitch to pay for this." He worked his jaw as he spoke, anger flashing across his face for a split second. For some inexplicable reason, Jane couldn't look him in the face as he spoke, so she just stared over the shoulder of Crowe, focusing on a car parked up ahead of them.
"Oh don't worry about that. I've been looking forward to this day for a long time." Crowe pulled at Jane, deliberately twisting her shoulder's as he did so, making her bite back a remark, knowing he was looking for a reaction from her. Crowe seemed disappointed he hadn't got a response like he'd hoped, so effectively pushed her towards the uniform.
"Book her for assault."
The uniform looked nervous as he walked Jane the short distance in to police headquarters. They had been so close, they hadn't even bothered with a car. Jane kept her head up, defiant as she was marched through the front door, and finally led down to the holding cell. She did no more than was necessary as she was being booked in, giving the details they needed to detain her, before she was shoved in to the main holding cell.
The one piece of luck that was running for her that day was apart from a drunk sleeping it off in a corner lying across the hard bench there, there was no one else in the cell with them. Jane stretched out, before rubbing her wrists, noticing with disdain that they were red and sore where Crowe had without a doubt deliberately put the cuff's on too tight. She then sank down on the the bench as far away as possible from the other occupant, bringing her head back to rest on the wall, closing her eyes.
"Jane what the hell?" Jane's head snapped up and she saw Korsak standing looking in at her.
"Got nothing to say to you Vince." Jane put her head back to the wall, closing her eyes again.
"Seems you've got a whole load of nothing to say to me today." Korsak lent in closer, "Crowes up there, preening about how he's brought you in on an assault charge. Wanna tell me about it?"
The drunk was now beginning to stir, and Jane shot a sideways glance, and sighed when she saw him trying to stand up. Perhaps her small amount of luck was about to end. Great, just what I need, a stinking drunk waking up on me! I swear to god if he even tries to hit on me I will punch his lights out.
"I hit Williams." Jane found herself saying, not looking at Korsak as she did.
"You did what?"
"Oh c'mon Korsak, you heard me. I. Hit. Williams." Jane snapped back, her temper edging up closer to the surface again.
"You hit our chief suspect." Korsak shook his head, disappointment showing. "What in the hell were you thinking?"
"I wasn't thinking, alright! Is that what you wanna hear? Or how about sometimes justice is fucked up."
"No, justice isn't fucked up, you just fucked up though, big time! You're on your own on this one." Without a glance, Korsak left the room, with Jane watching him, her mouth hanging slightly open at his leaving her.
"Fine, just piss off and leave me." She growled under her breath, "What the hell you looking at!" She then snarled at the drunk, who immediately backed away in to his corner, hands up, looking scared.
A short time later, a uniform came up to the cage. "Hands out Rizzoli, you know the drill."
"Yeah, from that side perhaps." She whispered, as she brought her hands up and rested them in the gap that allowed them to place handcuffs back on her. "Where we going anyway?"
"IAD wanna see you."
"Wow, oh great!" Jane's sarcasm was obvious. "Just to make my day complete."
"Jane Rizzoli, on the count of aggravated assault how do you plead?"
Jane swallowed hard, trying not to look at her Mother and Frankie, who were sitting just a short distance away from her.
"Guilty your honor."
She had to stop the shaking that was threatening to break out, instead bringing her hands down on the table in front of where she was standing, fists clenched so tightly that her knuckles were white, desperate to get her breathing under control. This was a lot harder than she imagined it would be. She hated being in court as a Detective, this side of the bars was a thousand times worse. She brought her mind back to the voice, to find out her fate.
"... two years incarceration all suspended for a period of two years, you will serve 100 hours of community service and complete a court ordered Anger Management Program. Do you understand Ms. Rizzoli?"
"Yes Your Honor" her voice full of a shame she had never felt before.
"We are adjourned."
Jane's head hung as the gavel hit its block base, and was led out of the box, where she then stood in front of her Mother and Frankie.
"Oh Ma, don't cry." Jane's heart was breaking at the sight in front of her, and she wished with every fibre of her being she could change the situation they were facing.
"Janie, why? I don't understand why? What with you and Tommy, was I such a bad parent?"
"Ma, I can't..." Jane couldn't bear the look of disappointment that was etched on her Mothers face. "I just can't explain it to you. I'm sorry alright. I never meant for this to happen."
"But your career. You flushed it all away, for what? What you going to do now? Whose gonna employ you? Are you gonna lose your apartment? I don't understand! Help me understand." Angela pleaded, wiping the tears that didn't seem to want to stop.
"Ma, we've been through this; it just happened and I can't change it, so don't ask, not again, not here. I've gotta go, sign some paperwork so I can get outta here." Jane knew she didn't have to do it that second, but she needed the excuse to get away from the feelings of failure that was leeching out of the people who not so long ago were so proud of her. She couldn't even look at Frankie, who had hero-worshipped her for so long. His face showed his disbelief of her failure that it cut right to her core. They were the only two who had come to court to see this. Perhaps in some way it was for the best, that others didn't see this humiliation. Or did it show just how few friends she really had? Whatever the reason, this was the lowest Jane could ever remember feeling in her life.
This hurt more; hurt far more than losing her badge.
That shield had defined who she was, what she had stood up for, and without it, she wasn't even sure she knew who she was any more.
Please forgive me, because right now I can't forgive myself for the choice I've made was her thought as she walked away, facing her new life, with so much now uncertain.
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