Family isn't just blood

Part 1- the homicide

The cell phones of both Dr. Maura Isles and Detective Jane Rizzoli always seemed to be in sync, This morning was no different. Despite being in separated rooms both phones sprung into life at the same time. "Maura answer the damn phone!" The detective complained pulling the pillow tightly around her ears trying desperately to cling onto the last few wisps of her dream. Maura just chuckled hearing the complaints through the wall before rolling over and pressing the accept button on the call. "Doctor Isles."

Jane huffed hearing the distant mumble of Maura answering the phone. pushing herself up, she roughly unhooked her phone from the charger and accepted the call from dispatch. "Rizzoli," she grumbled into the receiver. Slowly, she swung her legs out of the warm covers and stretched her joints trying to get her blood flowing yet again. She caught mumbled snippets of Maura's conversation through the wall as she tried to focus on the discussion she was having

"Oh, yeah I see. Sure. Be right there" Jane mumbled before hanging up.

Reluctantly, she abandoned the guest bedroom and staggered to the bathroom her body still locked with sleep. After a quick shower, Jane received the previous night's clothes from the crumbled pile she had discarded them off Maura's guest bedroom floor. "Maura, c'mon we're gonna be late" Rizzoli banged on the wall separating their rooms to hurry Maura along.

Maura appeared out of the kitchen looking nothing more than perfect. She was fully dressed and her make up, as usual, was expertly applied. She held out a to-go cup of coffee to Jane keeping one close to her body, silently signalling to her best friend that it was hers. "You are officially my favourite person ever Maura" Rizzoli grateful hummed into her morning caffeine hit. Maura only laughed, turning away so Jane couldn't catch sight of the developing blush creeping across the skin of her cheeks.

Gathering herself, Maura said "come on Jane we have to go right now" trying to drag Jane away from another cup of coffee. "Why? it's not like the body's moving anywhere" She whined as Maura's deceptively strong fingers twisted around her forearm, physically trying to drag her towards the open front door. "Now, Jane, this is important."

Jane rolled her eyes before giving in to her friend. She watched for a short, sombre moment as the coffee she had been drinking a few seconds ago bled out into the previous pristine sink. She trailed behind Maura before perking up at the sight at the car.

"I get to drive!" She hollered snagging the keys from the hook and sliding into the driver's seat before Maura could do any sort of protest. She sighed and got into the passenger seat.

"I'm only letting you drive because you would just whine throughout the whole car journey... Or you would break my leg." She primly strapped herself in waiting for Jane to fire up the engine.

A car ride with Jane and Maura was anything but silent. Music and bad singing filled the enclosed space, the cacophony of sound only stopped as they turned onto a suburban side street where the crime scene was. It seemed like a pretty nice place, the tiny cottages complete with picket fences lining the lawn looked like something out of a movie. Especially with the dawn light casting them with a golden glow.

They all looked remarkably similar with the thatched roofs and the manicured front lawns. Most of them even had the same brightly coloured flowers, Roses, hydrangeas even honeysuckle, growing around their doors and fences. it looks like the perfect place to bring up a family. Jane thought. Well, it would have been if not for the extremely out of place house at the end of the row.

The police cars were already outside, some with lights still flashing casting an almost eerie blue light onto the house. Jane could see the yellow police tape wound around the fences already from the car as they parked walking towards the crime scene. Jane could already make out the vibrant red of blood against the pristine cream exterior. A small river of blood flowed down and around the pebbles in the pathway stopping to pool and clot at the front gate. This whole scene made Jane's stomach do somersaults, even with the multitude of crime scenes she had been too this was one of the worst.

"Maura?" Jane called pulling on gloves as she waited for the pathologist's expert opinion on the sickly scene in front of them.

The sudden sound of her name cutting through the chaotic noise of the crime scene pulled Maura out of her fearful trance. "Coming" she whispered, her once rosy face now drained of all-natural colour. The only thing stopping her skin from looking completely albino was the blusher that she had put on this morning. Jane led the way, pushing the gate open and taking the first steps onto the grass and up to the body. Maura followed close behind, the gentle noise of her high heels against the polished pebbles was the only indication that she was following

Blood from the bludgeoned body reminded Maura of a waterfall, with the way the thick, red liquid twisted its way through the mangled hair of the victim. The very thing that kept her alive was the very thing that told anyone near and far of her death. The glossy hardwood of the porch steps was now ruined by the blood that had already dried. Reddish-brown flakes were already engraved into the wood. It terrified Maura that someone so young could be dehumanized. How a human could be turned into nothing more than a pile of distorted flesh and blood.

She sighed, ringing her gloved hands together before crouching over the body and setting to work.

"Female, around the ages of sixteen to about twenty." Maura started running her fingers through the tangled golden-brown hair of the victim, her finger jumping in and out of crevices of the destroyed face. Maura let out a thoughtful hum.

"That 'hmm' better give me something, Maura," Jane said, crossing her arms impatiently across her chest, her stance showing the soft annoyance of her voice.

"She's been struck with a large, blunt object. Whatever the killer used, it had a lot of weight behind it" Maura stood. Pausing briefly to wipe away the dust and dirt that had collected on her knees and the hem of her dress. She glanced at Jane seeing the look prompting her to continue. Maura sighed. "I can't give you a definite answer on what it is Jane. I will know more when I get her back to autopsy"

"Then guess Maura, Give us something. I know guessing is hard for you." Jane put a thoughtful hand onto, Maura's shoulder. The detective's voice seemed to fill with desperation. "we have a butchered girl and the very real possibility that the killer could still be out there." Jane gestured, her arms spreading wide to encompass the whole village and how large it really was. Maura just shook her head.

"All I can say for certain is that she was redressed in a rush. That likely means she's been raped but this is not always the case. I need an autopsy to be sure." she paused and sighed "If I were to guess, which I am extremely not comfortable with, I would say this is the crime scene of the murder but if there was any sort of sexual assault it had taken place elsewhere." Maura glanced down once again at the body as the black van loomed and two junior medical examiners came and took the murder fatality away from the noise and into the silence of Maura's sanctuary.

Jane nodded flashing a quick smile towards Maura before she made her way over to Korsak, who was taking witness statements on the other side of the police tape, to see if he'd learned anything about their victim.