The characters belong to Tess Gerritsen and Janet Tamaro, we borrow them.

Coffee

Barry opened the doors to the morgue, walking quietly in case his girlfriend was deep in thought and might not hear him enter. Whenever Maura had been working on a particularly tough case, she could get so immersed in it that it almost scared Barry. He didn't understand how she could get so deeply into one subject that all other parts of life seemed to disappear from her recognition.

He tapped lightly on the door to her office, where he found her sitting at her desk with a nearly glazed stare at her laptop.

"Maura?" He called softly, gesturing with the hand that held the coffee cup just for her.

She looked up from her work and suddenly smiled at him, the sunshine happy grin reserved just for him.

"Barry! Come on in, I think I've finally found something on the case that could solve everything," she greeted him. At the mention of the case, however, her face fell. It was a particularly hard one for the whole team because it involved the death of a child, something that always saddened even the most hardened detective. Maura took her job as advocate for the dead especially seriously in an event like this.

"You need a break," he said, advancing toward the desk in order to massage her shoulders as he tempted her with the aroma of the coffee to lure her away from the sadness and intensity for just a few minutes. She loosened her stiff posture as he began to rub out all of the tension filled knots that had developed in her neck and shoulders over the last few days.

"With hands like that," she said with a wink at him, "how can I say no?"

Barry grinned. Part one of his mission was accomplished.

"How about some coffee, too? Maybe we can enjoy it outside," he suggested, his voice so low he was nearly whispering as he bent to her ear.

"Good idea," Maura replied. "I don't remember what it even looks like by now."

"It's beautiful," Barry informed her. "But not nearly as beautiful as you."

She kissed him tenderly as they turned toward the door. "You're too kind," she said.

"Just wanted you to know how much I appreciate everything you do, Maura. You are so important to me," he added. With that, he took her hand and led her into the sunshine. The rays of light that were so much like her smile. The one especially meant for Barry.