Jane wished she had felt something for the dark Irish detective that she had just expelled from her apartment, but like so many before him, nada.

So it seemed with all the guys she had had in her life. She conveniently blamed it in being a cop, that the guys either were too put off by it or way too turned on, but her lousy track record extended as far back as she could remember. A part of her could almost acknowledge that she had chosen her career path because of the excuses it would give her.

But Jane only touched on those thoughts briefly and in the privacy if her own mind. She had long ago given up the ghost on finding someone who would sweep her off her feet. At this point she would settle for some one who she could just be herself around. After Hoyt she felt on the defensive around everybody, and lord help the man who wanted to know more about her scars. Jane pulled the covers over her head and reflexively rubbed the pink tokens of her last encounter with Hoyt. They were physical manifestation of the damaged person she was inside and a constant reminder that anything she touched would come into contact with that part of her life. Another reason why Jane should just keep her hands to herself.

As she often did when emotional things got too loud in her head, Jane dressed for a jog. She wondered if she would ever meet someone around whom she could let her guard down. Her mind flitted over all of her past relationships, searching for one with possibilities…her doubt was reinforced.

She gave brief pause to an encounter she had had when she was a rookie, but quickly dismissed it. Her sergeant had been a wonderfully remarkable woman who Jane had admired tremendously. When she made lieutenant, their patrol squad had taken the Serge and her girlfriend out drinking. The two women we so easy around each other, no power struggles, no jealousy, just relaxed. There was a moment, buzzed on some really good micro brew, that Jane had imagined herself like that, maybe with Sergeant Morris. But Jane had discounted her impulse almost immediately, knowing as she did, that that was not a road she was willing to go down. Good Catholics didn't do that. Not that Jane was a good catholic. More a recovering one, but even still she had to think about her folks, and her brothers. There was no way she could be with anyone her family didn't accept as one of their own, so Jane just kept looking.

Jane's feet pounded the pavement and she listened to the sound if her own breath in her head. This was when she was most at peace. After the shock of the first two miles had worn off and she cruised along alone with her thoughts. She almost laughed at the absurdity of it, the idea that she was at her best when by herself. Jane turned up the steam and abandoned any thoughts of her love life. At least she had her work.

Jane strolled into the squad room about an hour before her tour started. As was the case on many days, when she found she had uncommitted time, she preferred working to trying to fill it with frivolous nonsense.

"Hey Janie." Korsak called from his desk as he retuned the receiver to the cradle. "Glad you're here. Crowe and Blakely are out at a floater and we just go a call for a double shooting outside the University. Since you're here, let's take it."

"What about Frost?" Jane asked in deference to her new partner. She had requested the change, but she had long ago regretted the idea. The new guy was smart but green and although she resented Korsak for having "saved" her and seen her at her most vulnerable, she liked the way he worked and the way he thought. He was also a serial divorcée so they were kindred spirits of sorts.

"He's on his way in, but he can meet us there."

"let's bounce." Jane grabbed a fresh pad and gloves from her desk and followed Korsak to the elevator. "Ten bucks says Barry chucks his lunch within 5 minutes."

"Give the kid some credit." Korsak chuckled. "I give him at least 15."

Jane stood in the doorway of the bedroom and surveyed the scene. Two bodies lay face up on the floor, one by the dresser and the other in front of the window. Both fully clothed and unharmed except for the large bullet wound in their chests.

"One round, center mass." Korsak stated from his vantage point just inside the room. The two detectives went back and forth. Stating the obvious but doing so as a way to tally the facts and stay on the same page.

"44 magnum or 45 at close range." Jane returned. She was about to comment further on the wounds when a woman in stunning heels and an expensive trench coat stepped past her into the room.

"Can't make that assumption quite yet detective. But once I've conducted my exam and concluded the tests, I will let you know.

Jane was about to snatch this woman out of her crime scene when the doctor turned and offered her hand. "Dr. Maura Isles. The governor has appointed me to fill the position of Chief Medical Examiner. I know it is uncustomary for the Chief to be directly involved in every case, but I am not one to stand on custom."

Jane was immediately taken aback by the woman who now stood before her. She radiated confidence and success but had not a hint of arrogance. Jane shook the doctor's proffered hand as she mumbled her own name in return. The doctor's grasp was firm yet delicate and her hand was unbelievably soft. Jane felt a bolt of electricity strike her as she met the woman's gaze. Her hazel eyes were soft yet intelligent and they held a promise of undisclosed knowledge that captivated Jane. Jane knew instantly that she wanted to be friends with the new ME, if not for professional reasons, to find out what that secret was she kept just behind her eyes.

The doctor then turned to Korsak and showed the same winning smile, which was met with a half excited, half embarrassed one from Korsak.

Jane watched as Doctor Isles slipped gloves out of a gorgeous and probably outrageously expensive leather case and then proceed to circumnavigate the bodies. Jane was in awe of how this woman could negotiate the scene in heels as delicate as the ones she was wearing. But Jane's appreciation did not end there. The Doctor was stunning, possessed of a woman's grace but an almost childlike curiosity. Jane watched as the doctor observed, considered, and evaluated the information from the scene. The detective wanted to be upset by this woman's abrupt interference with her investigation but she could not help but enjoy it. She appreciated the doctor's approach, being quite in line with the way she and Korsak did things.

Jane turned and looked at Korsak, who was apparently thinking the same thing, but in a more lascivious manner.

"Korsak!" Jane hissed almost silently. He looked up and gave a guilty shrug.

"Wow!" He mouthed, which drew from Jane her classic incredulous look; had they not been right behind the doctor and within earshot, she would have accompanied it with her stock inquiry, "Really?"

Korsak shrugged at Jane and turned his attention back to the woman in the center if of the room. "So Doc, what can you tell us?"

Jane huffed and redirected her attention as well. Instead of seeing the crime scene though, the only thing that her eyes would focus on was the ME. Being in the company of strong, accomplished women always made Jane feel a little better about herself. Contrary to the hackneyed notions of caddy interactions and bitchy competitiveness among female coworkers, Jane found powerful women reassuring. They were a welcome alternative to the meek or helpless victims she usually saw, or those just interested in bedding and wedding a man. Jane felt a kinship with those, who like herself, were confident enough to do their jobs well without worrying what toll it would take on their sex life.

"It appears to be a gunshot wound, though I am not prepared to say what caliber." the ME continued to report her findings to the detectives and Jane looked on in awe. It wasn't until the doctor turned to face her that Jane realized that she had been gawking.

"Is everything okay detective?" The doctor asked in a bemused tone.

"It's all good Doc." Jane laughed to herself, wondering what the other woman must possibly be thinking. No matter, Jane was going to show her that she was dealing with one helluva good detective, and maybe at some point, they could become friends.

The following day Jane sat at her desk pouring over the photos from the crime scene. Korsak was fetching the ballistics data and Frost was hot on the trail of some internet giga geek lead from one of the computers they had seized from the scene. The phone rang and she answered it, her mind still half on the pictures.

"Rizzoli, Homicide."

"Good morning Detective Rizzoli." The caller was calm and casual, as if she were placing a personal call to a friend. Jane's whole being was instantly present, and focused on the voice coming thorough her receiver.

"Doctor Isles," She said, not masking the pleased tone in her voice. "Do you have anything for us?"

"I do, but I think one of you should come down here and see for your self. More expedient and in truth more effective."

Jane did not need to be asked twice. "I'll be right down." She dropped the receiver on the cradle and snatched her coat from the back of her chair. "I'm going down to the Morgue, wanna come Frost?"

"Busy." Was all he said, and though it was probably true for the most part, the reply came too quick for it to be anything short of an excuse.

"Its only dead people Barry," Jane teased as she crossed to the elevators. But she didn't push him because she knew how he was around dead bodies. "I'll bring the report and the labs up when I come back."

Maura hung up the phone and rested her chin on the back of her hand like Rodin's Thinker. She had only just met the tall Italian detective, but there was something about the woman that she found very appealing. Perhaps it was her professional confidence, or the compassion she showed to people. Maura had watched as Detective Rizzoli had notified the daughter of one of the deceased victims. The girl had been at school and her school bus had dropped her off right in front of the crime scene. Detective Rizzoli had been strong and earnest, not condescending or overly fawning. Maura had always found navigating personal interactions awkward so she was impressed by the detective's handling of the situation. Maura judged that she could learn a lot from observing the detective, and found that she was quite pleased that it would be the detective coming down to see what the ME had found.

Maura heard the elevator door open and the cadence of the detective's stride as she walked toward the morgue. The heal strike of the rather course looking boots the detective favored resonated through the halls.

"In here Detective Rizzoli," Maura called, as Jane passed her office door.

Jane stopped mid stride, pivoted and entered the office. "What do you have for us Doctor Isles?"

"Please call me Maura. If we are going to be working as closely I have been informed the ME's office and Homicide do, it will not do to maintain a ridged and formal discourse. It is not conducive to the free exchange of ideas, and serves to impede the kind of inquiry necessary to efficiently address the class of cases faced by our departments. "

Jane knitted her eyebrows together, not quite sure what to make of the doctor. She had noted that the doc had been super clinical at the scene, but Jane had written it off to being "in the zone." here it seemed a little odd.

"Well, then Maura," Jane tried out the sound of the woman's name in her mouth and found she liked it quite well. "You can call me Jane, and do you always talk like that?"

Maura blushed. She knew that her manner of conversing seldom blended well with others, and usually relegated her to the perimeter of professional discourse. This was exactly what she had been trying to avoid.

"In a word, yes." Maura replied in a resigned and somewhat defensive tone, already regretting the opportunity that was passing her by. "I fear that my speech is either overly pedantic or interpreted as such, for that I apologize."

"In a word," Jane good-naturedly mocked the ME. "I don't care."

"That is in fact three words, four if you count the contraction as two..."

"Really?" Jane looked at the doctor with a mixture of amusement and exasperation. "If you want efficiency and a free exchange of ideas, you are going to have to dial it back a notch. I'm not a very literal person"

The ME found the detective's tone comforting, even as she was critiquing Maura's speech. She had so much to learn from Jane, she only hopped she would be able to spend time with her. Maura resolved then and there to personally respond to any case to which Jane had any connection.