Maura's POV
Maura looked around at her office, debating on whether or not she liked how she rearranged her office. She dropped her hands to her sides, sighing. Heading towards through her office, she decided to begin the autopsy on the Jane Doe that had come in the night before. Found in her home, the woman's skin was becoming little more than a slippery layer of what once was her body's barrier from the harmful environment she had grown up in. Senior Criminalist, Susie Chang, had performed several x-rays once Jane Doe arrived, and, not wanting to further her procedures until Maura had arrived, had put her to bed. The x-rays had shown many calloused radial fractures to her long bones, as well as a newer fracture to her left zygomatic arch. Before beginning the autopsy, she pulled her phone out and hooked her headphones to it, turning the music up to just under 85 decibels. She loved music, but she wasn't so brash as to allow her love of it to dull her hearing. Placing the headphones in her ears and her phone in the breast pocket of her scrubs, she tied her hair up. Wearing scrubs always helped in covering her efficiently, but performing an autopsy was dirty work, so she always took the precaution to cover herself with a disposable lab coat. Once she was properly covered, she began the autopsy. A few hours later, Maura had just placed the stomach contents into a tray, as well as the small intestine. The doctor felt the dull thrill trickle into her limbs as she worked on her favorite step in the autopsy. She had already weighed and cataloged all of the organs, and their individual states of health. She placed her foot on the small pedal that had been installed into each table per her request, making her job slightly easier instead of having to transcribe her notes mid-autopsy, the pain of wasted gloves and a higher risk of contamination not in her list of things she needed to worry about during her day, and recorded her first find in the stomach contents. Suddenly, her heart race picked up as one of her favorite songs came up in the shuffle her phone was performing. Smiling, Maura began to sway her hips along with the beat of the music while analyzing the bowl of partially digested food and beverages, humming and quietly singing a few words. Her mind flashed through all of the memories she had listening to this song; the first time she heard it on the radio, when she had heard it while shopping in one of those stores that had their music ridiculously loud, and then, most recently, herself singing at the top of her lungs while cooking dinner, and then having an unexpected voice join in from near the front of the house, causing her to spin around in surprise, seeing Jane standing in an overly dramatic pose, trying to maintain her façade while the doctor had begun laughing at the silliness of the picture Jane had made, arms spread out wide and a comical expression gracing her face. Maura laughed at the memory, shaking her head and mimicking Jane's moves, singing louder than she had previously. She started serenading Jane Doe, just because she was there, only pausing to vocally take notes about what she was discovering in the bowl she was dancing with.
Jane's POV
Frustrated with how little they were discovering about the body that had come in a week ago, Jane took her lunch break early, deciding to go visit Maura downstairs and treat her to lunch. She stopped by the café really quick to talk to her mom about gnocchi night, but Angela was nowhere to be found. Assuming that her mother had taken her lunch break as well, she shrugged and resumed her travels to go fetch Maura. During the elevator ride, Jane always got this giddy feeling, like she was a teen again going on her first date with a long-time crush. She frowned, leaning against the elevator wall and rubbing her face. This is ridiculous. She's just a friend, Jane. Quit being an idiot. If it was gonna happen, it would've already. Groaning, she pushed off of the wall and placed herself in the center of the elevator, standing straight. She had tried pretty much everything besides the obvious: being blunt. Maura was either completely oblivious, or seriously not interested. The elevator dinged, signaling the end to the ride. Stepping out of the elevator, she was immediately bombarded with the sound of Maura's singing.
"Cause you know in your heart, baby,
Our love will never end, no.
You'll always be a part of me,
I'm part of you indefinitely,
Girl, don't you know you can't escape me,
Oo darlin', cause you'll always be my baby."
Jane's eyebrows rose, and she slowly walked into the morgue, a smile spreading across her face as she watched Maura singing a Mariah Carey song in her adorably out-of-tune voice to the Jane Doe they had talked about through text earlier in the day. Her expression turned into a full blown grin though, when the doctor giggled and did a similar pose to what she had only done last week to mess with Maur when she unexpectedly stopped by, the only real difference was that she held a bowl of some sort of sludge. She leaned against one of the clean autopsy tables, perfectly content to go unnoticed. She watched as Maura made her way up and down the table, dancing to her hearts' desire, making Jane wish she had kept with her ballet lessons. Her eyes roamed the length of the doctors' body, smirking at the black scrubs underneath the lab coat. Always efficient, this one. Trying to smother her laugh that escaped right as Maura abruptly stopped dancing and singing in order to Oo and Ah at the bowl-o-sludge, the slight leg movement and then Maura's adorably professional tone she took on when she was recording her notes cued Jane in on the need for silence. Covering her mouth, she waited for Maura to resume her dancing, but was sort of let down after the doc picked up a scalpel, apparently finished with the sludge, and moved on to an intestine. Ew, I don't know how she does that. Before she could help herself, she uttered the word 'Vomit', and pretended to gag, her hand going to her stomach. She noticed the immediate stiffening of Maura's back at her crude noises, and plastered a classic Rizzoli smirk to her face as Maura turned, pointing the scalpel at Jane, her eyes narrowed.
"How long have you been down here?"
Jane feigned looking around to find whom the question was directed at, the hand that was previously on her stomach sliding up to point at herself, and, eyebrows raised, mouthed 'Me?' Maura's eyes narrowed further, and her dimple became more pronounced, drawing Jane's eye. Looking at the dimple, she couldn't keep up the act anymore and smiled.
"Long enough to know that you have some pretty rockin' eighties dance moves!" As she said the last four words, Jane thrust her fists out and rotated them in sequence to her hips, winking at the doctor, who in turn blushed, her eyes widening. That look always made her look so innocent, and in some ways she was, but in others she was a little too… knowledgeable. Laughing, Jane walked over and plucked the headphones out of Maura's ears, wrapping the cord around her fingers in order to place it in the pocket that she had her phone in. Following the cord, Jane realized a moment too late that Maura had placed her phone in her breast pocket, and tucked the cord as lightly as possible into the pocket without touching anything.
Clearing her throat, Jane looked pointedly at the clock.
"Is it lunchtime already? Excellent, I'm famished. Let me just put some of these organs back, and wrap it up with the intestines and I can take my lunch."
Nodding, Jane sat on the autopsy table she had leaned against earlier, and twenty minutes later they were off to lunch.
Maura's POV
They had gone out to one of Jane's favorite restaurants, one of those nice French diners close to the precinct. Jane couldn't get enough of their never-ending supply of croissants, and if she didn't cease devouring the entire basket, she wasn't going to have room for lunch. Laughing at the cross-eyed look Jane had given her when she took another bite of one, Maura placed her hand over the croissant before Jane had another bite, stopping Jane's hand.
"Jane, really, you're going to become full before the appetizers even arrive. Please save some room for the food. I know you love the croissants, but you need a little bit of protein, something… nutritious, instead of simple carbohydrates."
Pausing in her motions, Jane stared at Maura's hand for a second, her mouth open, and then looked up at Maura. Her entire upper body sagged in defeat, rolling her eyes and placing the remaining croissant on the plate.
"Fine, but if you ever tell my mother I let you talk me into eating something remotely healthy, I will deny it whole-heartedly, and then I will proceed to tell everyone in the entire precinct about your cute eighties moves you do when you think no one is looking." Jane raised an eyebrow in challenge, making miniature disco moves. Gasping, Maura placed a hand over her heart.
"You wouldn't dare! But Jane… I… would never…" Jane leaned back, smirking at the way Maura's words tumbled over one another in their rush to come out.
"Alright then, that's settled? What happens in the café, stays in the café, and what happens… when… you… listen to music stays between us." Maura's head jerks up suddenly, staring at Jane for a split second, and then acting as if she hadn't reacted, her face turning a light shade of pink, she went about tidying her already spotless side of the table. Do you think Jane noticed? That I had been thinking about her? No, people are incapable of reading thoughts, Maura.
"Thank you for your discretion." Jane laughed at the statement, and looked like she was getting ready to tease Maura some more about her dancing, when she decided to distract Jane by perking up at the sight of their waitress bringing them their food. Clapping her hands a few times, Maura grinned, watching the waitress set their food down, and thanking her. Looking up, Maura caught Jane taking a massive bite of her croque-monsieur, closing her eyes and relishing in the taste of the ham, cheese melting down her chin.
"Goodness gracious, Jane! It's like you've never eaten. Why are you so voracious all of a sudden?" Reaching over, Maura wiped the off of Jane's face before she could use her sleeve. As soon as Maura reached across the table, her hand slowed, lingering slightly longer than necessary, her eyes met Jane's, and breathing became difficult. Oh god, what am I doing? Maura! Snap out of it. Pulling away, she placed her hands in her lap for a bit, fidgeting with the napkin.
"Sorry, I didn't mean…"
"It's okay, Maur… I don't mind." Her head snapped up.
"You… don't mind that I just treated you as though you were a toddler?"
"Nah, 'specially if I'm acting like one. It isn't like anyone was paying attention anyway." Jane winks at her, and Maura doesn't know how to react, pursing her lips.
"I… you… Jane, you are a deceptively complex creature. I never know what to expect from you." Raising her eyebrow, Jane chews slowly and decides what to say next, eyeing the doctor.
"I'm complex? Have you met yourself, Dr. Isles? The woman who dresses impeccably, as though she was participating in a runway show, even when she's sleeping alone, is excellent at chess, knows the weirdest facts about things no one would normally even give a second thought to, let alone a first. You're an ME, and a yoga enthusiast, who owns a turtle as a pet, houses her LLBFF's ma in her guesthouse cause Pop is having some weird-ass midlife crisis. And I'm the complex one?" The entire time Jane is talking, she's making crazy gestures with her sandwich, Maura's eyes widened at each point Jane made, but still couldn't help correct her.
"Language, Jane. And Bass is a tortoise."
Jane just stared.
"What? Why… why are you staring at me? Was it something I said?"
Jane's POV
This woman infuriated her. How could she lo… Love?! Jane felt herself freeze as the thought crossed paths with her conscious mind. Like… love love? Like 'in love'? Maura was saying something to her, concern on her face, jolting her back from her thoughts.
"Hmm? Oh, sorry. You always correct me. It's… well, it's kinda cute, but at the same time I want to strangle you." Maura's fork clattered onto the plate, and she gingerly placed it beside the plate on the table.
"I'm afraid you wouldn't get away with it. Detective Frost would arrest you." Jane had to cover her mouth in order to avoid spewing ham and cheese at Maura, her laughter was so uproarious. She pointed at the doctor, shaking her head at Maura's lack of social skills.
"That is because Frost has an enormous crush on you. You just don't know it."
"What?! Jane! Unless he told you, I wouldn't jump to conclusions. He doesn't have a… crush on me. You indulge too much in conjecture." Maura shook her head in disapproval, wiping her mouth with her napkin, having barely touched her salad. Scoffing, Jane replied with a smirk and a knowing look.
"Oh no. Maura he has the cutest little crush on you. Every time you walk into the room he stares at you. Haven't you ever noticed the way he stutters when it's just you and him?" Slightly more serious, Jane looks incredulous when Maura begins to speak in a higher octave than normal.
"Jane, that's preposterous. I… he doesn't think that way about me. No one does unless I bring up sexual intercourse first." Taken aback, Jane leans forward, looking dumbfounded. Her hand covers Maura's on the table, trying to tear away the shades covering her eyes.
"Maura, face it, you're hot. Half the freakin' precinct has the hots for you. I'm sorry to burst your bubble, but it's the truth. The fact that you think that people don't think about you sexually unless you bring it up is… preposterous. You're gorgeous! I keep trying to tell you, but you're oblivious. Either that or you block any and/or all attention of the sort until you're looking for it yourself." She rubbed her thumb along Maura's wrist, staring at her. She didn't speak for awhile, lost in thought, Maura was staring at the table where their hands were intertwined.
Maura's POV
She had upturned her hand to hold Jane's in hers without realizing it. She watched as her arm erupted in cutis anserine, or piloerection. Stifling a shudder, she chastised herself for allowing her libido to become this heightened. She bit her lip, worrying it as she analyzed the information just given her.
"Can I ask you a question?" Jane nodded, waiting for her to ask. "Do… Why?"
"… What?" Jane's face became blank, her tone flat. Her thumb stopped its movement on her wrist.
"Why are you so sweet to me?" Maura felt confused, humbled, and quite small. She felt like she had when she was younger, the only girl that was never asked to the college frat parties because she was 'cool', but by necessity. She felt exposed, wary of her surroundings and the response Jane would give her.
"Because I love you, you know that. I… think this conversation should go further, but not when we're constrained for time. C'mon, lets head back. We've got less than ten minutes until our lunch is over."
Getting up, Maura felt that familiar flutter in her stomach that occurred every time Jane said those three words. She denied herself the indulgence; knowing that she couldn't handle the letdown if she did, in fact, indulge. Fantasies were simply that: a fantasy. She felt her eyes tear up, and squared her jaw, refusing to let anyone see her this way. She slipped the barrier between her work and personal life back into place. She couldn't afford losing her Jane. The risk wasn't worth the possible cost. Their friendship would be enough. At least, that's what she kept repeating, hopeful that one day she'd believe it.
