Title: Flight

By: Bailee

Pairing: Jane/Maura

Summary: When Jane leaves home for a year abroad on her own, she expects to experience new places and cultures. She doesn't, however, expect to meet a high class, blonde, pre-med student. And more importantly, she never expects to fall in love with her. AU.

Disclaimer: I don't own, I rent.

A/N: This story is a little different than most I've ever written. I have recently left my home, where I've lived all my life, for a year of traveling. Even though I'm constantly on the move, this is the longest I've ever been gone. The other day, I got an idea for a book, a similar experience to mine, with the added turmoil of a love affair, of course.

When I actually sat down to write the book, however, I was having a lot of trouble. Then I asked myself, what if it were Jane and Maura? Suddenly the words began pouring out. I still plan to turn this into a regular work of fiction, and am essentially writing two books side-by-side, but doing it this way gives me not only the opportunity to have a ton of beta readers, it gives me a chance to get feedback while I'm writing and to have a bit easier of a time getting into the heads of my characters.

But anyway, sorry for the long ramble, just wanted to explain my thought process here. Enjoy, guys! Let me know what you think – good or bad.

Also, yes, I will update my other stories eventually. Promise!

Chapter One

"It's just something I have to do, Casey," Jane said, exasperated. She tore into her closet; she knew the shirt had to be in there somewhere. She had just worn it last week. Or was it the week before?

She picked up and tossed away shirt after shirt, "damn it, why are all my clothes black?"

Jane grabbed another shirt, inspected it closely, and then discarded it into the pile with the others with a groan.

"I just don't understand why you're doing this."

"Lots of people do this kind of thing."

"No, I mean," Casey started, trying to keep her attention from the task at hand, "I don't understand why you're doing this."

Jane shot up instantly, stopping her endless search. Her eyes narrowed on her boyfriend, "I have always loved to travel!"

"I'm not saying you don't. But alone? This is you we're talking about. How are you going to survive for a year on your own when you don't, you know…like people."

"God, Casey, I'm not totally socially inept," she returned to her search, pulling out a black lacy top, "aha!"

She rolled the shirt up tightly and stuffed it into the backpack on her bed. On one hand, she could understand why Casey was having such a hard time accepting this. In the four years they had been dating, they hadn't spent more than a couple weeks apart; now she was leaving for a year? She would be upset too, if he were the one leaving.

But this was something she had to do. If she ever wanted to change herself, change the course of her life, she couldn't do it here. She had been planning it for months and been thinking about it even longer. When she first began bringing it up, people thought she was kidding. It wasn't until she'd finally purchased a one-way ticket out of her small town that people started taking her seriously.

Casey continued to watch her closely from his spot on the bed as she continued to pile clothes into the already full backpack. She could feel his eyes watching her every movement, waiting for her to continue to try and convince him.

But really, what else was there left to say? She was leaving tomorrow, whether he understood why or not. She knew she wouldn't change her mind, despite the fact that she was scared to death. She'd waited too long for this opportunity to let it slip past her; she needed this too much.

All her life, Jane had been waiting for a chance to reinvent herself. Growing up, she had always felt inferior to the people around her. She never felt smart enough or pretty enough or interesting enough. She had always longed to move away to a different city or state, or country even, where no one knew her, where her reputation couldn't follow her, and become the person she'd always dreamt of being.

Doing that in the increasingly small town she'd lived in all her life seemed to be impossible. Too many people there had known her for too long, she was stuck in too many old routines to break the mold without a change of scenery. She knew this was the only way to become the person who was stuck inside.

She finished stuffing the last few things into her bag and struggled to zip it. When she finally closed the bag, she looked at it with a satisfied smile, and then glanced over at Casey. The look on his face pained her; it wasn't that she wasn't going to miss him, she would. But she also knew that if it were meant to be, they would find a way to make it work.

Casey, however, didn't seem to be quite so certain. Jane walked over to him and put her arms around his shoulders, giving him a soft kiss on the forehead before embracing him tightly. She felt him sigh against her and wrap his arms around her waist.

"You'll at least try to be careful, won't you?"

She scoffed in response, "I'm always careful."

"Jane, I'm serious. This isn't some weekend trip to New York. This is leaving the country. For a year."

"I know what it is, Casey," she said defensively, "I'm a big girl. I can take care of myself."

"And promise me you won't meet some smooth-talking Italian guy and let him seduce you."

"Now that I can't promise," she replied, the smile growing on her face. Casey shot her a look of mock-depression, his lip jutting out in a pout, his eyes even producing a few tears.

"What? You know I can't resist a sexy accent. Though I have always been more into the English accent, rather than Italian."

Jane began laughing and it wasn't long before Casey's straight face was breaking. He pulled her backwards with him and they tumbled over. He managed to flip them around so that he was on top of her and began tickling her, keeping her hands pinned above her head so that she couldn't retaliate. She gasped for air, trying desperately to gain control.

"I surrender, I surrender!" she exclaimed between breaths.

The intensity of the moment wore down and Casey lay down next to her as they both regained their breathing. He let out a long sigh as he rolled on his back and tucked his arms behind his head.

"I'm really going to miss you, Jane," he whispered quietly.

"Yeah," she started, just as softly, "I'm going to miss you too."

- R & I -

"Geez, Ma, enough with the tears, already," Jane said with a roll of her eyes. She hugged her little brothers and Casey before turning to her father.

"I'll see ya later, Daddy," she said softly, before bringing her dad into a hug. She honestly didn't think she would cry, but after seeing the tears in her father's eyes, she felt her own eyes begin to blur behind the tears that were threatening to fall.

"I'm going to miss you, kiddo. Don't forget to call, okay?"

"I will, Pop."

She turned to her mother, the moment she'd been dreading all morning. Angela was a mess, to put it lightly. Jane couldn't blame her too much; she was the oldest and therefore, the first to "leave the nest." Not only was she leaving, she was going across an ocean for an entire year. It wasn't like most of her classmates who had moved away, most of them had simply gone to college on the other side of the state or moved a few hours away to Boston.

But Jane never did anything the easy way.

"You're sure I can't go with you?" Angela said through her tears.

"I'll be fine, Ma. I'll call and write and text and email as much as I can."

"What about Facebook?"

"Yes, Ma, Facebook too," Jane replied with a roll of her eyes. She wrapped her arms around her mother's neck and embraced her tightly, squeezing her eyes shut so her tears couldn't escape.

"Well," Jane started, letting her hands fall to her sides, "I guess I'll see you guys in a year."

Before Angela could pull her into yet another hug, she turned to enter the security line. It wasn't until she was sitting at her gate waiting to board the plane that she let the tears fall.

She never thought it would be so hard to say goodbye.