She still remembers the first time she felt that inexplicable pull towards Jane. It was only a few weeks into their relationship, their friendship. They had been awake for two days straight working a case when Cavanaugh ordered them to get some sleep or go home. Frost opted to catch a few hours of sleep at home.

Jane waited until Cavanaugh disappeared, refilled her coffee mug, and got back to work in the quiet solitude of Maura's office.

When a call came in with a tip that Korsak thought might be good, Maura slipped downstairs to find Jane. She opened the door to see Jane asleep on her couch. Sorry that she had to wake her from her first hours of sleep in days, she put a hand on Jane's arm and shook her gently, whispering her name.

Jane opened her eyes with a groan.

It was strikingly intimate, being the first person she saw when she awoke. It gave Maura a strange sense of ownership, of feeling that this otherwise innocuous thing was indicative of something else.

Something more.

It's the role of lovers and wives, being the first to greet you in the morning, and being neither of those gave her a strange feeling like she was intruding on some private space but also that she belonged.

Further entangling her emotions was the way that Jane didn't seem at all surprised or uncomfortable to wake up to Maura. It made her feel like they were connected, but beyond that, that she owned her in some way.

It was a dangerous thing, assigning so much weight and intimacy to so small an event but that feeling lingered, grew.

Never before had she felt so bonded to Jane, despite the nature of their relationship. They trusted each other with their lives but that seemed suddenly trivial.

It was only this, the simple act of having Jane wake up to see her before anyone else in the world, that sealed it.