A/N: This story is rated M for mild violence, swearing and smut in later chapters.

I don't own Rizzoli and Isles, or its characters. They belong to Tess Gerritsen, Janet Tamaro, TNT and whoever else.

Jane Rizzoli slipped the little black dress over her body and adjusted it. She looked in the mirror, "Not bad." She said to herself then went into her bathroom and brushed out her wild hair.

She sat on her bed to put on her heels then stood up and admired the whole outfit. She gave herself a little shrug then grabbed her purse and left her apartment.

The security firm she worked for was hired to do security for a big fancy fundraiser. Jane wasn't quite sure what the fundraiser was for and frankly she didn't care. All she cared about was doing her job and getting paid for it. And rich people paid.

Jane arrived at the location, a museum. 'Oh great bad enough I'll be surround by rich snotty people but it has to be in a boring museum.' Jane thought as she went up the stairs and to the entrance.

A man in a suit stopped her, "Name please?" He asked holding an iPad.

"Jane Rizzoli." Jane said to the man and he looked over his iPad.

"Yes Ma'am please go right in." He said to her with a smile.

"Ma'am?" Jane scoffed quietly under her breath as she went inside the museum.

Jane took it all in. The place was enormous. It was filled with paintings, statues, artifacts. They were priceless things that Jane had never seen nor did she care about.

Jane was told by her firm to meet up in the Blue Room. Jane grabbed a map of the museum from one of the pedestals by the door and looked for the blue room. "Upstairs and to the left." She muttered to herself as she put the map in her purse and headed for the stairs.

Jane couldn't believe it, the Blue Room was actually a blue room. The walls were painted a light blue and everything inside, whether it was a painting, a sculpture or a vase was blue. Jane snorted at the ridiculousness of it.

"Rizzoli, over here." A man called from across the room. Jane went over to her fellow security guard.

"Here's your earpiece." He said handing it to her and Jane put it in her ear and tested it out. "And your mic." He said handing her a small black watch. Jane put it on her wrist.

"You good?" He asked and Jane nodded.

"Listen I don't have to tell you but this has to go smoothly. The lady throwing this shindig is really rich and paying our firm a lot of money to keep everyone safe tonight." The man told her.

"Geez Danny, relax okay." She told him. "This isn't my first rich person party."

"All the guests will be downstairs for the majority of the party." Danny told her, "But some of the guests will wander into other areas of the museum."

"Okay, where am I stationed?" Jane asked him.

"You'll be downstairs with me and Jason." Danny told her, "Ken, Malcolm, and Emmett will be upstairs. There are only about 200 people here tonight so it should be easy enough to keep an eye on people."

"Sounds good to me." She said to him then went back downstairs. She scanned the room with her eyes making sure everything looked in place.

Jane's eyes stopped on a beautiful woman standing near the entrance talking to a small group of people. She was wearing a dark blue off the shoulder dress that fit her body so snuggly Jane could see the soft curve of her body.

Jane watched the woman closely as she smiled and talked to people.

"Hey Rizzoli, put your tongue back in your mouth." Danny's voice came into her ear piece.

"Shut up Danny." Jane mumbled.

Waiters were carrying silver trays of finger food and champagne around the room.

"No alcohol." Danny said on the radio seeing Jane reach for a flute of champagne from one of the trays.

Jane talked into the mouth piece in her fancy watch, "Hey Danny, how about you keep your eyes on the crowd more and less on me."

Jane wandered the room as if she was a normal guest. She smiled at people who smiled at her but aside from that she didn't engage any of the guests.

Jane had wanted to talk to the beautiful blonde she saw earlier that evening all night. She made her way through the crowd and approached the woman who was standing alone for the first time in almost an hour. She was sipping a glass of champagne and looking around the room.

"Hello." Jane said as casually as she could to the woman.

The woman tilted her head slightly and smiled, "Hello." She said, "Are you enjoying the party?" She asked.

"Uh, it's not really my thing." Jane said looking around the room.

"Really?" the blonde asked, "And what would be your thing?"

"Plenty of things, just not this." Jane told her with a smile. "I really don't understand art or the reason it needs to be hung in a museum for people to gawk at."

While Jane talked the woman's eyes wandered down the length of Jane's body and then back up again. "Perhaps I can explain the finer points of art to you some time." She said to Jane.

"Maybe." Jane said and smiled.

"You have a beautiful smile." The woman said as she admired Jane's lips.

"Hey Rizzoli, you're not getting paid to flirt." Danny came over the ear piece.

"Damn it." Jane mumbled.

"I'm sorry, were you talking to me?" The woman said stepping closer to Jane and putting a hand on her forearm.

"Um, no, sorry about that." Jane said looking down at the woman's hand. "You know I hear some rich woman is spending a small fortune so these other rich people can eat finger food and drink champagne." Jane leaned over a little and whispered to her.

The woman smiled, "I heard that too." As she removed her hand from Jane's arm.

A man in a black tuxedo came over to them. "Maura this is a very lovely party. You should be so proud of yourself." He said leaning in and kissing her on the cheek.

'Shit.' Jane mentally cursed. "Look, I'm sorry I didn't know." Jane said to Maura who was smiling.

"How about we start over?" Maura asked and held out her hand, "Maura Isles."

Before Jane could take Maura's hand there was a loud crash at the front door, 6 people dressed in all black with ski masks on came rushing in. "NO ONE MOVE!" A man in one of the ski masks yelled. He pointed a handgun into the crowd. The other people on his team where armed with hand guns as well and had them pointed into the crowd.

Jane took a protective stance in front of Maura.

The lead man yelled for his men to fan out and they started to go through the crowd.

"Listen up, just give over your valuables and you won't get hurt." The man yelled for the crowd.

The members on his team went through the crowd and took the valuables from the people and put them into black backpacks.

"And don't forget to hand over your cellphones as well; we wouldn't want you calling the police in the middle of our little party." He told the crowd.

The lead scanned the room as if he was looking for someone. He spotted Maura standing near Jane. "You!" He yelled at her, "You're coming with me!" he said to her as he walked over to Jane and Maura.

"The hell she is." Jane said to the man. "The people are doing what you want just take what you came for and go."

"Listen bitch, no one asked you. I came for her and I'm not leaving without her." He said to Jane and went to grab Maura but Jane pushed him back.

The man raised his gun and pointed it at Jane. Maura was standing behind Jane and she grabbed Jane's wrist and squeezed. A commotion in the crowd distracted the man. He looked over to see one of his team members fighting with an old woman over a necklace.

Maura made the mistake of moving out from behind Jane and the man caught the movement from the corner of his eye. He turned and fired his gun thinking that Jane was coming at him. Jane wrapped her arms around Maura and she threw them both to the ground. Jane's shoulder and head connected with the hard marble floor.

Someone screamed and that started a panic in the crowd. The lead man yelled for his team to get the hell out of there and all six bolted for the door and took off.

A man from the party kneeled down and rolled Jane off of Maura. "Someone call 911, this woman needs an ambulance." He called out as he noticed blood on the floor.

Two men helped Maura up from the floor and stood her up. "Dear god." She said looking down at Jane who was unconscious. They escorted her away from Jane.

"I'm with the security team." Danny called out to the crowd as he held up his badge, "I'm going to need everyone to remain calm and do what my team needs you to do."

The rest of the security team moved the crowd off to one side of the room. Danny went over to Jane and knelt down by her as the other man kept pressure on her wound. Sirens could be heard in the distance.

Police and paramedics came into the museum. The police fanned out into the crowd trying to get some order and the paramedics attended to Jane.

"Ms. Isles, please can you tell me what happened?" An officer asked but Maura wasn't paying attention. She was distracted by the sight of the paramedics putting Jane onto a gurney.

"Ms. Isles?" the officer asked trying to get her attention.

Maura looked back at the officer. "I'm sorry." She said then watched as the paramedics wheeled Jane out the door. "What was your question again?"

The police kept everyone at the museum for over 3 hours interviewing them. Everyone was finally allowed to go home but they were told to stay in town just in case the police needed to contact them.

Maura had her driver take her to the hospital. She walked into the emergency room and asked if a woman with a gunshot wound from the museum shooting had been admitted. The nurse at the station said yes and directed her to go to the fourth floor for more information.

Maura went to the fourth floor and asked the nurse at the station there about the woman from the museum shooting and the nurse informed her that Jane was in a room resting now.

"What room please?" Maura asked.

"Are you family?" The nurse asked.

"I'm Maura Isles. My family has donated millions of dollars to this city and to this hospital." Maura told her, "That woman saved my life and I would like to thank her."

The nurse just looked at Maura.

"The room number please?" Maura asked again.

"283. Just down the hall and to your right." The nurse told her.

Maura left the station and pulled out her cellphone as she walked down the hall.

"Hello this is Maura Isles. I'd like a patient of yours moved to a private room please." Maura said on the phone. "Well I don't know her name but she is the shooting victim from tonight at the museum."

"I'd like her moved as soon as she is able to be moved." Maura said as she stopped outside of room 283. "Yes, thank you." She said then hung up.

She pushed the heavy wooden door open and went into the room. Maura saw Jane lying perfectly still the hospital bed by the window. When Maura approached she noticed that Jane's eyes were closed. She stood by the bedside and looked Jane over. She glanced down at the hospital band around Jane's left wrist, "Jane Rizzoli." Maura read quietly to herself.

"Well Jane Rizzoli, why on earth would be willing to take a bullet for me?" Maura asked out loud. Maura grabbed a chair and sat at Jane's bedside and waited for her to wake up.

Nurses came and went from the room, each giving Maura a polite smile as they checked on Jane and left. It had only been an hour since Maura came to the hospital but she started to wonder if this woman would ever wake up.

Jane finally stirred in her bed. She let out a small groan as her eyes fluttered open. She stared up at the white sterile ceiling. Jane felt something in her left hand and squeezed then realized someone was holding her hand. She turned her head to see the woman from the party sitting in a chair next to her bed. Maura's head was resting against the back of the tall chair, her eyes were closed. Her right arm was extended out to the bed and her hand was holding Jane's in hers.

Jane smiled, and gave the hand a squeeze, "Hey." She said softly.

Maura smacked her lips and a little snore escaped. Jane chuckled, "Hey, Maura." She said giving Maura's hand a little tug.

Maura's eyes shot open and she quickly withdrew her hand from Jane's. She sat up and looked at Jane, "I'm sorry I didn't mean to fall asleep." Maura said to her.

Jane smiled, "That's okay. It's not like I was entertaining you."

Jane looked over at her right shoulder and hissed a little as she tried to move it. "You know you didn't have to stay here." Jane said to Maura. "I mean, I'm fine."

Before Maura could say anything two big orderlies came into the room. "We're here to move you." One of them said as Maura stood up and got out of the way.

"But, wait." Jane started to argue. "Why?" She asked.

"I don't know lady, I'm just following orders." He said and they unlocked the wheels on Jane's bed and started to push her out the door. She strained to look back at Maura who was just standing by the window.

"She's going to room P82 on the 8th floor." The orderly told Maura as they left.

Jane was moved into her new private room and left alone. She had a nice view from her window of the courtyard near the hospital. The room itself looked like a small apartment the way it was set up. Jane had never seen wallpaper in a hospital room before so she knew this was pretty swanky. Then the horrifying thought crossed her mind, 'How the hell do I pay for all this?' she wasn't able to put much more thought into it as she started to get sleepy and she eventually fell asleep.

Maura had her driver take her home. She went inside and changed out of her outfit from earlier. She looked closely at her dress and noticed a small dark stain on the back and realized it must be blood. Jane's blood. She dropped the dress as if it was on fire. She stripped off the rest of her clothing and got into the shower.

She got out of the shower and dried off. She put on a new bra and pair of panties and then went into her closet and found a light green dress to put on.

For the second time Maura had her driver take her to the hospital. Maura went up to Jane's room. She knocked on the door but got no response. Instead of leaving she pushed the door in and went inside. Jane was fast asleep; her wild black hair was spilled all over her white pillow.

Maura didn't want to wake her so she went and sat on the couch by the window and looked out. The sun was just starting to peak over the horizon.

A bright ray of sun lay across Jane's face waking her up. She groaned closing her eyes and covering her face with her left hand, "Go away." She mumbled to the sun and the room went dark. Surprised that the sun actually obeyed her command she removed her hand and looked over in the direction of the window. Maura was standing by the now closed curtain.

"Good morning." Maura said to Jane as she stepped closer to Jane's bed.

"Good morning." Jane said her voice was scratchy.

"How are you feeling?" Maura asked her as she sat down in an armchair by the bed.

"The bullet just grazed my upper arm near my shoulder. I fell pretty hard on my shoulder but it's just a really bad bruise." Jane told her, "They said I have a concussion too and I probably need to stay in the hospital for a couple days just so they can monitor me."

"The doctor told me there wasn't any permanent damage." Maura told her.

"Will I be able to play the piano?" Jane asked Maura.

"I don't see why not." Maura said with a small shrug.

"Cool, I always wanted to play the piano." Jane said then laughed. She looked over at Maura who obviously didn't get it. "It's a joke. I can't play piano. See… " Jane tried to explain then noticed the confusion on Maura's face and stopped, "Never mind."

"I should let you rest now." Maura said standing up.

"No wait." Jane said to her and Maura stopped. "Look, I'm supposed to stay awake for a while. Can you just stay here with me for a bit?" She asked.

"Sure." Maura said and sat back down. "You know the doctor said you don't have anyone down as an emergency contact." Maura said to Jane.

"Yeah it's not a big deal." Jane said and Maura got the hint that Jane didn't to talk about it, especially to a stranger.

"So you throw a lot of those big parties?" Jane asked her.

"I run a Foundation that hosts parties for charity events." Maura told her, "There are plenty of people willing to give to charity if they get a party thrown for their efforts."

Jane laughed, "I'd imagine so."

"So you were part of the security detail last night right?" Maura asked.

"Yeah. Kind of failed you on that whole security thing huh?" Jane asked.

"You didn't fail me." Maura said as she reached over and took Jane's hand in hers, her thumb lightly brushed against the back of Jane's knuckles. "You saved my life."

"I just pushed you out of the way." Jane said being modest.

Maura smiled at her, 'god she had a gorgeous smile.' Jane thought.

"Don't be so modest. Most people, especially the ones at that party wouldn't have even bothered." Maura told her, "So thank you." She said giving Jane's hand a squeeze.

"You're welcome." Jane said trying not to blush.

Maura stayed with Jane for a bit longer before she excused herself and left.

Instead of going home Maura went to her office at the Isles Foundation. She sat behind her desk and was on the phone talking to her insurance company to make a report of what happened at the museum. She made countless calls to the people who attended the party to insure them that things were being handled and that they would get their stolen property back. She spent hours sitting in her office fielding calls. By the time she was finished she looked up at the clock on the wall and it was a little after 6pm.

She turned off her computer, turned the answering service on to her office phone then turned off the lights and left.

Maura's driver took her back over to the hospital. Maura knocked on Jane's door and waited for a response.

"Uh, come in." Jane called out.

Maura pushed the door open and went inside. Jane smiled when she saw it was Maura.

"Hi." Jane said to her.

"Oh, you're eating dinner. I'm sorry I shouldn't have interrupted." Maura said noticing the plate of food sitting on the hospital tray in front of Jane.

"It's okay. I'm not really that hungry." Jane said pushing the tray away from her and looking over Maura.

Maura went and took a seat in the arm chair near Jane's bed.

"A nurse told me you're paying for this room." Jane said to her, "You really don't have to do that."

"It's the least I can do." Maura told her.

"Well I don't feel right about it." Jane told her, "I'll pay you back as soon as I can. It might take me a while but I will."

"Okay." Maura agreed knowing it was Jane's pride at stake and she shouldn't argue with her.

"How are you feeling today?" Maura asked.

"They put my arm in a sling." She said flapping it a little. "I'm not on as many pain killers either." Jane said with a pout, "But I seem to be healing. The doctor is actually going to let me out of here tomorrow morning."

"That's wonderful to hear." Maura said to her.

There was a knock on Jane's door; "Come in." she called out.

A man in a suit came into Jane's room, "Hello Ma'am." He said to Jane then looked over at Maura.

"I'm Detective Parker with the Boston Police Department." He introduced himself. He looked over at Maura, "Excuse me Mrs. Isles, may I have a word with you?" He asked.

"Ms. Isles." Maura corrected him, "And yes of course Detective. What can I do for you?"

"We heard from several witnesses that the gunman made mentioned that he was there to take you." Parker told her. "We think it's best if you were put into protective custody."

"That's not necessary." Maura said to him.

"There's been a threat made on you Ms. Isles." Parker told her, "We need to keep you safe."

Jane watched the exchange between the detective and Maura.

"I can hire my own security if I need to." Maura told him then she looked over at Jane. "In fact I have someone in mind, so you don't need to worry about me."

"I really think…." He started to say but Maura cut him off.

"I said I am perfectly capable of hiring my own protection Detective." Maura snapped at him.

"Okay Ms. Isles. That is entirely up to you just as long as you know that the BPD is not responsible if something were to happen to you." Parker said.

"Nothing's going to happen to her." Jane chimed in and Maura looked over at her with surprise.

The detective nodded to them both then left the room.

Maura turned to Jane, "I have a proposition for you."

Jane's eyebrow arched. She didn't bother hiding her smile, "And what would that be?"

"I want to hire you to protect me." Maura told her.

Jane laughed, "Ow damn." She said grabbing her injured arm, "Don't make me laugh."

"I'm not joking." Maura told her. "You obviously need someone to care for you and I assume that by the lack of anyone being present to check on your current condition that you don't have anyone."

Jane's eyebrows furrowed, "I have people." She said offended.

"I can pay you." Maura told her.

"Wow." Jane said in disbelief, "Do you look at me and see one of your many charity cases or something? Am I just a little project for you?"

"No, I simply look at you and know what you are capable of." Maura told her, "You saved my life and I'd like you to continue to protect it while there is a threat."

"If you prefer not to protect me then that is fine. I will find someone else." Maura stood up and grabbed her purse. "Take care of yourself Jane Rizzoli." She said as she headed for the door.

"Wait!" Jane called out to her and Maura stopped and turned around.

"I'll do it but it has to be on my terms." Jane told her. "You're not going to pay me a cent. I'll work off the cost of my hospital bill and this room." She said to Maura.

"That is perfectly acceptable." Maura said with a smile.