Prove It

Disclaimer: Jane Rizzoli and Maura Isles do not belong to me. No infringement intended and no profit will be made from their use.

A/N: I started this awhile ago and then shelved it but decided to pick it up again. This is really just supposed to be lighthearted fun and not taken too seriously, even if it seems a little serious at the end. Just think of it like the show where even the most serious of all serious events can be followed by a my pretty pony party.

"I think you're wrong," Maura said, seemingly out of the blue.

Jane shook herself from her own thoughts and said, "Excuse me?"

The two women were sitting in their regular booth at the Dirty Robber. It had gradually become a regular occurrence, happening after work on most days both women were around and not working on a case. Many days it included long stretches of comfortable silence as each woman contemplated their latest case or whatever else was on their minds. Maura's statement interrupted Jane's musing about the pathetic state of her love life coupled with the fact that she'd rather sit in silence with Maura than go on a date with anyone she'd met recently.

"I don't think you would be the guy if you were with a woman," Maura continued.

"Seriously? That conversation happened months ago. Why on earth would you be thinking about it?"

"I'm sorry, I can't really control what my brain chooses to think about. But, nevermind, it's not important."

Jane played with her beer bottle silently for a minute before sighing. "Fine, why am I wrong?"

Maura's eyes lit up and she smiled. "First of all, I disagree with the basis of your assertion that you would be the guy because it presumes that within a lesbian relationship one of the women will always take on more of a male role. While historically it was very common in a lesbian relationship for one woman to be much more masculine and one more feminine, or butch and femme, that's not true anymore. Plus, saying you would be the guy suggests that lesbians who do fit the butch and femme roles are trying to replicate heterosexual relationships rather than creating something else altogether."

"Why exactly am I getting a lecture about the history of lesbians?"

"It's fascinating, really, how women have embraced a wide spectrum of gender expression throughout different periods of time."

Jane snorted. "You think it's fascinating? You, the femmiest femme of them all, think that's fascinating?"

"Yes, I certainly enjoy being more feminine, but that doesn't mean I can't appreciate the ways in which other women express all different forms of femininity and masculinity."

"How do you even know all of this?"

"I did research before we went undercover at Merch."

"You did that much research for one evening of going undercover? That's completely ridiculous."

"It was my first undercover operation. I didn't want to make any mistakes," Maura said like it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"I'm pretty sure no one at that club was wondering about your thoughts on the history of female gender expression. They were more concerned with how to get you out of your uniform. But what exactly does this have to do with me?"

"Right. When you said that you would be the guy I took to mean you would fulfill some of the more stereotypical butch stereotypes. Is that what you meant?"

Jane shrugged. "I don't know. I guess. It was a just stupid answer to a stupid question."

"Well, there are stereotypes about butch appearance and demeanor. While your clothing choices are often regrettable, they aren't really butch. But that's not really that important. My main argument is that butches are generally expected to exhibit a confident, dominant, sexual prowess, and that is not you at all."

"What?" Jane's jaw dropped. "This conversation just got weird. I just meant I'd open doors and stuff like that."

"And I'm simply telling you there's a lot more to it than that."

"Whatever, I would still be the guy," Jane said, not willing to let it go.

Maura smiled devilishly. "Prove it."

"Excuse me?" Jane asked arching her eyebrow.

"I said prove it."

"Are you, Dr. Isles, issuing me a dare? How exactly am I supposed to prove it?"

"I don't know. You're smart, I'm sure you can figure something out. And yes I am daring you. I dare you to prove to me that if you were with a woman you'd be the guy, as you put it."

"And what do I get if I do prove it?"

"Oh, I don't know. Can we figure that out later?"

Jane shook her head, like she couldn't believe what she was agreeing too. "This is completely ridiculous, but I'm going to prove that you are wrong and I'm right. But you know what? I think you're wrong about something too."

"Oh really?" Maura smirked.

"Yeah. I don't think that Ian is really the love of your life."

Maura's smirk immediately disappeared. "What? Why on earth would you think you know anything about that?" Maura said angrily.

"The Maura Isles I know goes after what she wants. If he was really the love of your life you would do whatever you had to do to be with him. So prove it," Jane challenged.

"What am I supposed to do, jump on a plane to Africa?"

"I don't know. You're smart. I'm sure you'll figure it out."

"Fine!" Maura said.

"Fine," Jane replied.

Maura got up without another word, gathered her jacket and purse, and walked toward the door.

Jane watched her go out the door before realizing how tense their conversation had just gotten. Jane got up and sprinted out the door after Maura.

"Maura wait," Jane called as she caught up to Maura. "I'm sorry, that was really inappropriate of me. Things got out of hand. I shouldn't have said anything like that."

"No, Jane, it's okay. Maybe you're right or maybe I should try harder to be with him. I don't know, but it's probably time to figure it out."

Jane put her hand on Maura's arm. "Come back inside and finish your drink. You can tell me all the other stuff you learned doing your undercover research."

"You don't really want to hear about it."

"Of course I do, come on." Jane tugged on Maura's hand and Maura followed Jane back into the bar.