Jane has been looking forward to this night for days. Exited for it, even.
And Jane Rizzoli hasn't been excited for anything in quite some time. But this? Well, this she has been planning for weeks. Her stomach is doing flips between all the nervous energy and the anticipation. She just hopes Maura is on board with what she has put into motion tonight. If not, the night could go horribly, horribly wrong.
So when duty calls the doctor away this afternoon, Maura is devastated. She is really upset that work got in the way of Jane's plans tonight. For Jane to be the one to plan an activity for them that isn't centered on some sporting event is unusual, to say the least. But tonight Jane has planned something Maura can only equate to a couples event. Something only people in a relationship would do together: Handing out Halloween candy at Maura's house.
The last few weeks Maura thinks she feels the tough exterior of the detective slowly melting away, their relationship shifting; becoming stronger and deeper. Lounging on the couch, she's caught Jane absentmindedly running her hands through her hair, or snuggling into Maura's lap after a marathon movie session. It's all been moving at a snail's pace, but the doctor wants Jane to feel comfortable. She's been open to more with the detective for quite some time, and she thinks maybe tonight Jane is going to finally take that next step.
Maura checks her watch one last time. Trick-or-treating ended 20 minutes ago. Jane has spent the last 2 hours handing out candy to dozens of neighborhood children. By herself. Good grief. She's probably furious with the doctor by now.
Maura pushes through her own front door, profusely apologizing for being late before she even lays her eyes on the other woman.
"Jane, I am so sorry. I had no idea Dr. Pike would keep me that late on the consult," Maura takes her scarf and coat off and busies herself with hanging everything in its proper place. "It wasn't as straight forward as he thought-" Maura stops talking abruptly when she turns around to face Jane.
"Oh, my." She can't help the reaction from spilling out from her lips.
Jane slowly turns her head to look at the smaller woman, "Is there a problem, Dr. Isles?" She shovels the rest of the candy bar into her mouth and crumples up the wrapper and tosses it across the couch into the big bowl of remaining candy.
"No, I...um...no." Maura shakes her head slightly before continuing. "You never said we were going to dress up to hand out the candy." Maura puts a hand up to stifle the grin spreading across her face.
"Rizzoli's always dress up to hand out the candy for Halloween, Maur." Jane pushes her lanky frame up off of the couch and moves over towards the kitchen to fill up her wine glass and pour one for the doctor. She hands the glass over to Maura and leans on the kitchen island.
"I had no idea." Maura's eyes survey the other woman's clothing choice. A seductive grin curls at her lip. She reaches out to run her fingers along the ends of the red satin ribbon that wraps around the brunette's head in a mask, its long tails trailing down through Jane's hair and over her shoulders.
"Very Lone Ranger-ish," Maura quirks an eyebrow at the material. "But it doesn't match the rest of your costume."
The doctor's eyes graze over the lithe frame of the taller woman, taking in the leather straps around her wrists and chest. The double swords at her back were secured by leather in a very barbaric, masculine fashion.
"I'm not the Lone Ranger, Maur." Jane shakes her head and grins at the other woman. "I hope you don't mind that I grabbed some of your hospital scrubs."
Maura's eyes rake up the detective. The mixture of the scrubs with the leather accoutrements was extremely odd, but the doctor found the combination to be highly arousing. Maura exhales deeply, "Jane…you can borrow my scrubs anytime you want." She can't keep herself from smiling. "They look very good on you."
"Oh do they, now?" Jane teases as she takes a swig from her glass. She waves at Maura's untouched wine. "You'd better start drinking that. I think you're going to need it tonight," she says with a wink.
Maura studies Jane's outfit as she takes a drink of the dark red wine. "Just exactly how much of this wine have you had tonight?" She pauses as she taps a finger on her lips, "On second thought…don't answer that."
Jane stands up a little straighter and watches Maura's brow furrow as the doctor runs through the gamut of possibilities of the costume. It has her puzzled.
"You're over-thinking this, Maur." Jane says, trying to be helpful.
"Leather is an extremely versatile material. The barbarians used leather wraps for multiple purposes. Worn at the wrist during battle it offered some protection," the doctor's finger traces a slow trail over the thin strips at Jane's wrist, "Once the warrior captured an enemy combatant, this type of leather could then be used to bind their hands and feet," Maura draws out the last words in her husky, deep bedroom voice, "Rendering them..utterly...defenseless." Maura's eyes are trained on Jane's wrists, "I like leather," She means to keep this thought in her head, but apparently she says it loud enough for Jane to hear.
Jane quirks her head at the doctor and for the life of her can't stifle the grin, "Well then…you're in luck tonight." Jane grabs Maura gently by the wrists, "I've got some leather for you, too," she whispers to the doctor, "Quite frankly, I didn't do a very good job with this," she says pointing at her own forearm, "How about we take turns. I tie your wrists, and you tie mine?"
Maura swallows. Hard.
Her lips move, but it takes a couple of tries before she croaks out a feeble, "Okay." She reaches for her wine glass and takes a long deep drink to soothe her suddenly dry throat.
Maura takes a step toward Jane and runs her hands under the thick leather straps criss-crossing the detective's chest. She leans back slightly so her eyes can wander down the detective's legs to the brown knee pads. "This...," she starts and waves her hand at the thick leather pads, "This I don't understand."
Jane smirks at the doctor's confusion, "I'll explain that in the bedroom." Maura's eyes jerk up instantaneously to look at the detective. She notices the sly smile spread out on the taller woman's face. "I've got the leather and a few more surprises for you in your bedroom. Would you like to go there now?"
Maura forgets to breathe and for a moment and she is dangerously close to going vasovagal. She inhales deeply and manages to nod her head. Jane grabs her hand and walks down the hall towards her closed bedroom door.
Jane pauses at the door and spins around to face the doctor. She places her hands on Maura's shoulders and takes a deep breath, her eyes diverted to the side as she takes a moment to gather herself.
"Maur, you know what we have is special, right?" The doctor nods her head in agreement. She can tell this is something Jane has been internally struggling with for some time by the serious look on her face. "I've wanted to do this for a long time. Hell, since last year as a matter of fact." Jane chuckles at her own admission of being a self-proclaimed chicken. She squeezes Maura's shoulders a little before she continues, "I just never wanted to jeopardize what we have, you know." She leans down slightly so her deep brown eyes are looking directly into Maura's expectant gaze. "I don't want to let one night of fun screw up what we have, okay?"
Maura reaches out to rub her hands down Jane's arms affectionately, "Jane, you worry too much. Everything will be fine."
"I hope you're right. I just don't want to disappoint you."
Maura puts her finger tenderly under Jane's chin, "You can never disappoint me, Jane."
"Remember, whatever happens in that bedroom…you're still my best friend."
Maura feigns a grimace, "You're starting to worry me, Jane."
"You have every reason to worry," the detective teases. "You promise to dress up for me? I want this night to be special," Jane runs her tongue along the inside of her cheek as she flashes the Rizzoli smirk. Maura desperately wants to trail that path with her own tongue inside of Jane's mouth.
Instead she shrugs her shoulders and attempts to put on a cavalier attitude. It isn't the way she always thought things would come to a head between them, but she has waited so long for Jane that she isn't about to let a little role-playing get in the way of things. "If I must," she teases back.
"Good. I'll even let you pick which toy you want, how about that? I bought an assortment at the store."
Maura does a double take. Did she really just say that? Jane is certainly full of surprises tonight. Maura actually is a little worried, now. And quite frankly, a little disappointed Jane didn't take her shopping with her.
She tries to hide the shock in her voice, "That sounds very...intriguing." She wraps her arms around Jane's waist in a hug and pulls her close so she can whisper in her ear, "but just so you know, I don't need any toys, Jane."
Jane backs away from the embrace slightly so she can look at Maura, "Oh, but I do. I like things to be as authentic as possible." She crumples her face slightly, "It doesn't have to be to the correct scale, for obvious reasons," she mumbles.
Maura runs her hand up along Jane's back and across the leather sheath. She shudders at the touch. Apparently she really does like leather. It's almost embarrassing how turned on she is right now, and they haven't even shared a first kiss. "How about you show me what you've got?" Maura husks.
Jane puts her hand on the doorknob and gives it a turn, "Just give me a second to get things ready, okay? I want this to be perfect."
Maura nods silently. She watches Jane close the door and feels a sudden rush of heat pool low between her legs. She contemplates what she should do to prepare herself before she walks through the door. Should she try to remain composed and just saunter in like she always does? Perhaps she should surprise Jane and strip off all her clothes and walk in totally nude to take the detective by surprise? Attempt to turn the tables in her favor tonight, possibly. Before she can formulate a plan, Jane calls from the bedroom.
"Okay, I'm ready. Come in."
Maura looks down at her sweaty palms and very uncharacteristically wipes them on her thighs before she pushes through the door.
Immediately the heat rises from between her legs and pushes up through her chest, making her ears burn a bright scarlet shade of red.
Jane's face falls. "Oh my god! You're mad, aren't you?" She rushes over from the foot of the bed and grabs the doctor by the elbows. "You promised me, Maur." Jane is nervous. The doctor isn't talking and when that happens it is NOT good.
"Talk to me Maur," Jane tries to elicit a response from the smaller woman, "Remember, I said I didn't want to have one night of fun ruin our friendship." She looked down into the unblinking hazel eyes as Maura stared across her room at the spectacle on the floor at the foot of her bed.
More leather.
More satin material.
A bo staff.
Strapped. On Bass's back.
"What the fuck, Jane?" Maura finally utters. Her hands slap against her thighs in disbelief.
Jane's dumbfounded. Of all the reactions, she really didn't expect this one. She had hoped to make the doctor laugh. Worse-case scenario she thought the doctor would be pissed at her messing with her pet. But this? This almost seemed like the doctor was…what? Let down?
"Come on, Maur." Jane pleads with outstretched arms. "It's supposed to be funny." Maura's head jerks away from Bass and her eyes meet the suddenly fumbling detective's nervous expression. "I couldn't really put the mask on him, his head is freakishly small. So I just made a little scarf," Jane indicates to the strip of purple satin loosely hanging around his head. "I just put that on him before you walked through the door. I knew you would kill me if I left it on him. I swear everything is safe."
Jane carefully grabs Maura's elbows, "Please tell me you think it's funny." She nods her head to the remaining silk and leather lying on the bed next to the other plastic weapons. "I got you an outfit, too. Blue because clearly you are the leader and most responsible one..." Jane's voice trails off to a whisper.
Maura stares at her blankly, her face devoid of all emotion.
"Maybe you just don't get it…," Jane tries to quickly remedy the situation. "We're supposed to be the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles." Jane tugs on her green scrub top, "See…green…colored masks…weapons…don't you get it?"
Maura crosses her arms over her chest, "You clearly didn't think this through."
Jane shakes her head at the smaller woman, "That's not true. I spent a lot of time thinking about this. I'm Raphael, the red one. The sarcastic, fierce fighter with a sense of humor." Maura isn't biting; she just stares back at Jane, waiting for her to dig herself out of the hole she is firmly planted in.
"And…and…Bass, he's Donatello." Jane waves her hand at the motionless reptile. "He's the strong, silent type. He's less violent than the others." Jane gives Maura an uncomfortable smile, hoping for leniency. "I thought you might appreciate that."
"You think this is funny?" Maura waves her hand around her room. "This was all supposed to make me laugh?"
Jane nervously laughs. "I thought it was funny."
Maura closes her eyes and rubs at her brow. "I can't believe this. I can't believe this is the big surprise you had waiting for me in the bedroom." She starts walking around the room, basically talking to herself mimicking Jane's deep voice, "I don't want to disappoint, you Maur…promise me we'll still be friends…" She stops and looks up at the ceiling, exhaling sharply. "I am such a complete idiot."
"No you're not!" Jane rushes to her side and grabs Maura's hands. "I am so sorry, Maura. This is all completely my fault."
Maura stares at their intertwined hands and tries to think back at how she could have missed the clues and avoided this horribly embarrassing situation.
"You're right, Jane. It is your fault." Maura firmly nods her head once, making her play at saving a little face in light of the night's events. She crosses the room and removes the piece of satin from Bass and lifts her finger with the offending garment up in front of Jane's face. "How many times have I told you that he is a tortoise, not a turtle?" She purses her lips at the detective as she tosses the purple material on the bed by the other items Jane had purchased.
"I know, I just thought it was funny." Jane rubs her palms with her fingers and winces at the doctor's reaction. She really wasn't taking this as well as Jane had planned.
"While I might be open to a little role-playing in the bedroom," Maura's eyes drift to the leather and satin, "Bass…not so much." The doctor places her hand in the small of Jane's back and ushers her out of the bedroom with a small push. Maura closes the door between them, and leans her back against it, needing a little time to clear her head.
Jane leans her forehead on the door, exhales sharply and closes her eyes tightly. It's now or never. This certainly isn't how she imagined it would happen. A small, teasing grin curls at her lip, "Do you want me to tie you up with the leather now, Maur?"
The door flies open as soon as the words leave her mouth, causing Jane to almost lose her footing as she stumbles back into the bedroom.
Maura's dark eyes roam over the leather once again as she takes in Jane's costume.
The doctor grabs at the leather strap across Jane's chest and pulls the detective towards her, "How about I tie you up first?" She crinkles her nose slightly, "I don't want there to be any more misunderstandings."
Jane peers down into the smaller woman's eyes. Challenge accepted. "Fine," she looks over Maura's shoulder back towards the bed. "But you'd better figure out how to blind-fold that damned turtle of yours. I can't get him to budge out of your room."
Maura shakes her head slightly at the mention of 'turtle' once again. "I'm not going to untie you until I hear you scream 'tortoise' tonight, Jane."
The detective takes a step into Maura's bedroom and casually flops onto the bed. "Funny. I always thought 'tortoise' would be my safe word." Jane's eyes lock with the doctor as a smile grows on her face. "I guess opposites really do attract."
Author's Note:
This just popped into my head. Timing was crucial, so I went ahead and posted it now. Really wish I had more time to come up with a a better ending.
Also…embarrassed to admit that I actually Wikipedia'd TMNT to write this. Fun fact: Did you know that Raphael had a good friend named Casey Jones? I laughed, but admittedly couldn't find a way to work it into the story.