DISCLAIMER: Rizzoli & Isles and its characters are the property of Tess Gerritsen, Janet Tamaro and TNT television network. No infringement intended.
AUTHOR'S NOTE: Written for an LJ community, femslash_land, drabble challenge using the prompt beginnings. I was limited to 500 words. I used all but one.
ARCHIVING: Only with the permission of the author.
First Impressions
By Ann
It was a Tuesday; Jane remembered because it was spaghetti night and she'd flicked sauce on her white blouse when she'd rolled the last of her spaghetti around her fork. When she'd gotten the call to take the lead investigation on a homicide involving a prominent defense attorney, she'd headed directly to the scene and hadn't bothered stopping by her apartment to change. She had no idea she'd be standing boot to stiletto with the new medical examiner. Jane felt like a vagrant next to the shorter woman who was dressed as if she were readying to walk down a Paris runway.
"Detective Jane Rizzoli," she introduced herself. "Looks like Barnes was shot at close range. Might be personal if someone was able to get so close."
"I won't be able to determine the exact distance between the shooter and victim until I've performed my autopsy," Maura Isles returned as she carefully squatted down next to the dead attorney. "I'm Doctor Maura Isles," she said as an afterthought.
Jane's eyes strayed to a firm thigh and then followed the smooth muscle to the edge of the ME's designer dress that had ridden up when the other woman had reached across the body to remove a white feather.
"That's odd," Maura said, holding up the feather for closer inspection. "A white feathered Indian Blue peacock."
That snapped Jane's attention from a shapely thigh to a pair of sharp, intelligent eyes. Jane couldn't tell if there were gray or green, or maybe even hazel. "So, what?" she asked with a trace of sarcasm. "A big assed peacock shot the guy?"
"What?" Maura asked in all seriousness. Her brow wrinkled in confusion. "Of course not." She wondered how the other woman had ever passed her detective exam.
Jane snorted. "Oh, this is going to be fun." The last ME had been a real bore. He ignored everything Jane had ever said to him and had zero personality.
"Fun?" Maura's frown deepened. How could murder be fun?
"Trust me, Doctor Isles. You and I are going to get along just fine." Jane pointed at the feather. "A peacock isn't exactly your average pet. You have any idea where someone might find one around here?"
Maura shrugged. "They would need to buy it from a breeder, but I wouldn't think there would be any peacock breeders in the Boston area."
"Care to help me see if there are? Then I can watch you do the autopsy," Jane suggested, although Maura wasn't one hundred percent certain that it was really a suggestion.
"Sure," she said with a smile. No one had actually asked for her help in a case before, other than to hurry up a test or file a report.
Jane returned the doctor's smile and reached out her hand. Maura looked at it momentarily before she took hold and allowed Jane to help her to her feet.
Maura Isles was going to be the biggest challenge Jane had ever faced. She couldn't wait.
The End